Blue Zircon: Ace Attorney
by Milady Montrose
Summary: Blue Zircon has had a tumultuous career history so far, chock full of murderers and private investigations, but nothing so far has compared to this. Blue Diamond herself has requested her presence, and there's no way Blue Zircon will refuse. Basically, a rewriting and lengthening of the Trial, as if it were an Ace Attorney game.
1. Assignment, Part One

Nary could a dust particle nor a stray case file be seen in the office of Zircon. Her small flat gleamed with the results of borderline obsessive cleaning. Zircon did not overly enjoy cleaning; however, because of all her important clients, she deemed it important to look her best.

Her clients had started out small. Ruby infractions-pranks played on superior Rubies, who did not really care, and often excused their underlings' behavior, to the fury of the prosecuting team. Jaspers accused of taking some small, worthless possession of an Agate. Most times, Zircon only had to sniff around and trace her clients' steps, in the end revealing the missing item. Lapis Lazulis accused of performing subpar terraforming work for some outer colony. Often, Zircon needed to physically restrain the Lazulis to prevent them from unleashing physical retribution onto their doubters. (The skills of a Lazuli were unparalleled, after all.)

With these early successes came more important clients, more important cases, some which ended in tragedy, others in success.

Then, Zircon hit the big leagues, and, in her eyes, failed spectacularly. Her first truly prestigious mission from the innards of Blue Diamond's Royal Courts: a missing Obsidian. Blue Zircon had scoured Homeworld for her, eager to prove to Blue Diamond's underlings she could be trusted with difficult tasks. Obsidian served Blue Diamond loyally as a royal librarian, but had one flaw: her desire to explore. Obsidians did not 'explore'; she left behind easily followed traces and tracks. Zircon celebrated her acquirement of an easy case, and trailed the Obsidian far outside Blue Diamond's center of operations, on the outskirts of Homeworld. Zircon came across a fine black powder in a chasm, with jagged black pieces of Gem radiating outward in a starburst.

After falling 50 feet, right off a cliff, Obsidian poofed and shattered. This case tied several others for 'most Gem-wracking report to the client'. Zircon could only be thankful Her Diamond's Court did not take the case's awful ending as Zircon's fault. After this, Zircon would not have been surprised if the Royal Court demoted her utterly. Indeed, for 100 years, Blue Zircon did not receive the same level of cases as before; slowly, word about her improved.

Unbeknownst to her, the Royal Court had taken notice of her quick findings about Obsidian, though the poor, ditzy Gem herself had been smashed. After all, Blue Zircon had reported back immediately, though in stutters and nearly half-finished words.

Another Royal Court case found its way to her after 100 years. Blue Zircon readied herself to go above and beyond on this case. Someone in the Royal Court had given her a second chance; Blue Zircon would not disappoint!

The case involved misplaced files in White Diamond's Bureau. Blue Zircon did not expect to be assigned to such a case; it seemed more like the job of a Private Investigator. Still, she needed to get back into the Royal Court's good graces. She traveled to the Bureau. A Sodalite ushered her around the Bureau.

The practicality and grace of White Diamond's Bureau impressed Blue Zircon. She juggled her time between admiring the Diamond's center of operations, and having the guards rustle up those files. All the while, she couldn't help but notice that the Sodalite held a clipboard. Every so often, she wrote down a few sentences, or a massive paragraph.

Blue Zircon tried to gently feel up the Sodalite, to get an inkling of what she wrote. The Sodalite tilted her entire body away from Zircon, face cracking into a large smile. Zircon sighed. Surely, the Sodalite wrote down notes about her performance. Blue Zircon upped her ante, and found the files within an hour. They had been misplaced in a similar-sounding kernel, where White Diamond kept all important files. Blue Zircon read the name of the files as she refiled them correctly.

They pertained to the colony of Earth. Blue Zircon quickly stuffed down the files. She didn't desire to know more. Judging by the rumors swirling around Earth and Pink Diamond, one could get in trouble.

After Blue Zircon reported in her success, it struck her. Why was she, and not a trusted Zircon, given this assignment? Had this been a test? That would explain the constant note-taking of the Sodalite.

Soon after her next investigation of a Seraphinite's odd behavior, everything cleared. She knew exactly why. After so many years of loyal service, Zircon's legal and detective prowess had been rewarded by assigning her the most difficult cases of Blue Diamond's Royal Court. Indeed, she had been weighed, tested, and had not been found wanting.

What seemed to be pointless, dull, routine investigations of a Seraphinite for squabbling with her fellow coworkers did a complete 180. Zircon had noticed an irregularity in the Seraphinite's Gem-strange off-color spiderwebbing. This caused a chain of abductions, culminating in a confrontation. Zircon never expected the Seraphinite to draw a horrible, jagged two-bladed dagger and attack her. The Seraphinite gouged Zircon's shoulder and pinned her hand to a desk. Zircon destroyed her hand, tearing it away, and leaping out the cubbyhole, alerting the Agate guards.

The Seraphinite was a dangerous serial shatterer. She had avoided detection for so long; the Guards did not have any evidence to suspect her in any way. So someone in the Royal Court had assigned Blue Zircon to the case, saying she "had a knack for cold cases". Essentially, a Royal Court member had believed that Blue Zircon would grate against the Seraphinite enough to draw her out. Blue Zircon complained, but no one listened-just congratulated her on drawing out the killer.

And thus opened the floodgates of nasty, tough cold cases from Blue's Royal Court. The Court set Blue Zircon to do everything from flush out and defend shatterers to locate a Green Pearl's missing star navigation map monogrammed with Blue Diamond's signature.

None of this compared to what came next-the culmination of Blue Zircon's many-thousand-year-long breakneck career. Blue Diamond's Pearl herself came to Zircon's flat one day.

Blue Zircon hastened to make the Pearl comfortable; she invited her in. The Blue Pearl declined with a raising of her hand, then read from a blue scroll that Blue Zircon had been summoned to Her Diamond's antechamber.

…

"Do you mean _Blue Diamond's_ antechamber?" Zircon forced herself to say. She had been taken entirely off guard.

"Yes."

"Do you the personal chamber of Blue Diamond herself?" Blue Zircon supposed she looked like an idiot, asking that question, but this turn of events boggled her mind.

"Yes."

"Where Blue Diamond herself will be sitting?" Blue Zircon asked, panicking. Her appearance and form did not befit a Diamond; she had to get ready, to mentally prepare herself…

The Pearl nodded in the affirmative.

" _I'm going to be in front of Blue Diamond…_ " Blue Zircon half-whispered to herself.

"There is no need to prepare," announced the Blue Pearl. Her two Jasper guards lifted Zircon into the air, and the entire contingent dashed off into the heart of Blue Diamond's Royal Court.


	2. Assignment, Part Two

The Jasper guards set Blue Zircon down gently in the hall directly outside Blue Diamond's personal chamber. Blue Pearl and the Jaspers dashed off, presumably to fetch the next Gem.

Blue Zircon cast her eyes around, getting a feel of the room. Tall pillars arched overhead to give a sense of weightlessness. A solid blue crystal rotunda shut off the sky of Homeworld; stained glass windows entirely made up the walls of the room. Sapphire light of myriad shades filtered through the windows, suffusing the entire room with a shade of deep blue.

In this light, Blue Zircon could not quite discern the identities of the rooms' inhabitants. Motionless, thick blue shadows lurked around the room. Occasionally a limb moved, but other than that, not a Gem moved. Initially nervous, Blue Zircon stopped fidgeting as the minutes ticked by. The atmosphere of the rotunda quelled her discomfort. It was almost impossible to not be calm in this space.

Blue Zircon padded quietly to the rotunda walls, and sat. She rested her back against the stained glass, jumping at the sudden cold. Acclimating, she gazed at the stained glass windows.

Every hour, Blue Pearl and the Jaspers brought another Gem, until the inhabitants of the room numbered ten. Brilliant, white light illuminated the room, beating back the pacifying atmosphere. Without the eerie light, Blue Zircon began to feel her former discomfort and panic, less than before. She would meet Blue Diamond in a few moments, and she had not even the time to prepare! Blue Zircon began to groom herself, flicking dust off her suit, smoothing her hair, and concentrating on her physical form, to sharpen its outlines against the background.

Blue Pearl twirled her wrist in the air. Another Zircon, a deeper shade of blue, followed Blue Pearl into Blue Diamond's antechamber. Blue Zircon followed them as close as she dared. The door shut, offering none of the assembled Gems any glimpse into the chamber. Blue Zircon straightened her back, and began to survey the surrounding Gems.

Around her stood some of the most important Gems of their profession. A few feet from her stood a Béhierite, _the_ Béhierite! She leaned against a pillar gazing off into space with a blank expression on her face. Blue Zircon gazed at her, a little starstruck. Béhierite was the top-ranked lawyer in Blue Diamond's Court; she often accepted the most important cases, sometimes those directly related to Blue Diamond.

Blue Zircon cast her eyes around. More important lawyers and detectives, and some fresh faces that Zircon did not know. Blue Zircon raised her fingers to her mouth and began to think.

What kind of case would require the first waters of lawyer Gems and the rookie lawyers to be screened before even discussion of the case? And not just any Gem would be doing the screening, but Blue Diamond herself. Her fingers migrated up to her monocle, swiping underneath for imaginary sweat or grime.

Blue Pearl cracked open the door, momentarily silencing all conversation. She ushered out a different Zircon, of a powder blue color. The Powder Blue Zircon had relief written across her features.

"Well?" asked some of the rookie Zircons, padding up to her. The other, more experienced and well-known Gems tagged along after a moment. In response to the questions of the assemblage, Powder Blue shrugged, adjusting her cravat. "I wasn't what Blue Diamond was looking for. She didn't tell me much, just gave me some weird puzzle."

Powder Blue rolled her shoulders, muttering to the others, "I don't envy anyone who gets chosen. Whatever the case is, if Blue Diamond herself is involved, it's better to stay away."

Blue Zircon scowled. That wasn't loyalty to one's Diamond. That wasn't even _smart_. If a Diamond spoke, "Go!", a Gem _went_. Blue Zircon wanted to ask about the puzzle, but the Powder Blue Zircon was not forthcoming with details.

Blue Pearl filtered the rest in across a number of hours. Zircon doubted she would be picked-after all, she had quite a few failures. Eventually, she and the Béhierite remained in the hall. Blue Zircon watched as the Blue Pearl strode up to the Béhierite.

"My Diamond would like to thank you for your zealousness in offering to take My Diamond's case upon yourself without knowing the details. I do not regret to inform you that My Diamond believes you are needed elsewhere. Still, the time may come where your Diamond may require your help."

The Béhierite performed a fancy salute, crossing her arms, then bending her fingers backwards to knit them together. Blue Zircon squinted and averted her eyes; that must have hurt. "Of course, I…understand. I shall be always be the first to offer assistance to My Diamond, should she ever ask."

Blue Pearl performed a curtesy. "And that is exactly why Blue Diamond did not wish to assign you to this case." Both turned to Blue Zircon, who had been listening intently. Aware of how bad the situation looked, she began to speak, but Blue Pearl politely stopped her.

"There is no need to explain," said the Pearl as she led Blue Zircon up to the heavy door. "Please perform to the best of your abilities. Confirm My Diamond's suspicions about you."

"Suspicions?" Blue Zircon yelped, sweat beginning to bead around her hair line. "I've done nothing wrong-!"

Blue Pearl stopped Blue Zircon with an upright hand. "Of course not." Placing a firm hand over the knob and twisting, Blue Pearl opened the door. She stepped out of Blue Zircon's way, extending a hand into the darkness of the room in a gesture to proceed.

Zircon did, and at once perceived the towering form of Blue Diamond, curiously leaning out over her throne, staring right at her.


	3. Assignment, Part Three

Zircon immediately struck a standard salute. Oddly enough, something struck her right thumb as she did so. She tried to complete the salute again, but again something hit her right thumb. Zircon quickly glanced down at her arms. Her face flooded with a cascade of blue as she realized her own hands had been smacking into each other. Quickly completing the salute, she added in a little bow.

"It-it is an honor to meet you, My Diamond!" Her voice broke halfway through, causing a fresh flood of blue in her cheeks.

Blue Diamond acknowledged her with a short, prim nod of her head, accompanied by a closing of the eyelids. "At ease. You may approach."

Zircon came within fifty feet of Blue Diamond. "Closer," said Blue Diamond, craning out a little more, over her throne. Her arm leaned into the armrest of her throne.

Zircon quickly shuffled over to within ten feet of the Diamond. At this distance, Blue Diamond towered over Zircon. Her form blotted out half of Zircon's front vision, and she had to bend her neck far upwards to meet the Diamond's eyes.

Shadows hid the Diamond's face, muting her features into bluish-black impressions of differing blurriness. The irises of the Diamond's eyes glowed dimly, casting a soft light onto the rest of her face-almost as if the Diamond wore a mask. The diamond-shaped pupils could be easily seen, a black speck amongst the light.

Blue Diamond reclined in her chair, her blue cloak poofing out with the disturbed air as her back hit the throne. The cloak slowly settled once more, the air leaving. "Let's begin. How about you tell me about some of your cases?"

Reassured by the familiar material, Zircon gave her Diamond a quick overview of her legal career. The Diamond listened silently, face unchanging even when Zircon spoke of her failures. Zircon wrapped up her latest case, and stood at attention.

"Maybe you should tell me about a specific case?" suggested Blue Diamond.

Zircon gulped and sucked air into her chest, puffing it out rapidly. "What cases would you like to hear in particular, My Diamond?" Perhaps Zircon could catch a glimpse into the mystery assignment of Blue Diamond's.

"How about…the Seraphinite?"

Seraphinite…a murder case. Did a murder happen recently in Blue Diamond's Court? If so, was the murderer caught? The Seraphinite case had been an odd one-Zircon never actually stood in trial-as it involved mostly footwork. _Blue Diamond may need a good detective,_ Zircon mused.

…But then why look for only legal gems? Surely, a Gem with more sleuth-oriented abilities would be more convenient. Still, the case ended with a victory for Zircon, even though she had needed to regenerate a new form after. It was no hard effort to recount her success. "Of course, My Diamond."

Zircon hesitated, then continued. It might be worth bringing up, and certainly wouldn't seem like she was trying to read her Diamond…"I never did any actual legal work on that case, My Diamond…mostly poring through case files, interviewing witnesses, suspects…"-here Zircon sighed-"dealing with the Agate guards…detective work, mainly."

Blue Diamond's hand rose to fold into a fist, directly underneath her chin, supporting it. "Tell me more."

"C-certainly!" Blue Zircon recited the facts of the case. Blue Diamond often interrupted to ask questions. She seemed to especially care about the logic behind Blue Zircon's actions. Zircon perked up-explaining things she knew about was her forte.

"How did you notice this Seraphinite was a problem?" Blue Diamond asked, massaging her jawbone with a thumb.

Zircon tapped the air with a finger, as if she wished to present evidence in court. "It was her Gem, My Diamond."

Blue Diamond blinked. Zircon hastily continued, unsure at the cues Blue Diamond sent, if any, "Her gem is circular, and flat, and has a marble pattern across the front, in dark green." She wiggled her fore finger across her upraised palm. "That Seraphinite also had white scattering. White scattering doesn't often happen in Seraphinites, and! there is a compound often used by lapidaries in the hospital. It's called Epoxy. This compound can be slathered atop Gems, to stabilize them. When it's dried on a Gem, its color looks _exactly_ like the patterns on that Seraphinite."

Zircon took the liberty to pace back and forth in front of Blue Diamond's throne. She couldn't help it-whenever her thoughts flowed, her legs felt the need to be stretched. Zircon flashed a glance at Blue Diamond, but her expression did not change beyond her long face, with sky-high eyebrows. Zircon felt reassured, and continued, "So I asked her about her Gem."

Blue Diamond asked, "How exactly did you approach this topic?" Blue Diamond uncurled her fingers, starting to knead her jaw. Zircon wondered if her Diamond had injured her jaw, or if this was something she just _did_.

Zircon gave a sharp nod. "My Diamond, I didn't think that she'd be open to questions about her Gem, so I first began by asking small, simple questions. Questions like 'How are you feeling, with the shatterer being seen in this area?' Once she was comfortable, I decided to sidetrack the conversation away from the questions I really wanted to ask.

"I didn't want her to be thinking about the questions I asked her, you see. Just to answer them rapidly. I asked her if she knew anything about the shattering that happened recently, then I got her to tell me her alibi. There were a few holes in it, My Diamond, so I probed them a little, made her anxious. I thought, that maybe, if she _was_ indeed the shatterer, she'd jump at the chance to change the topic."

"And she took the bait." Blue Zircon's shoulders lost their perkiness as Zircon stretched her neck a little. With that done, Zircon continued, less enthusiastic than before. "I…pushed her a little too much, and she stabbed me in the shoulder with her Gem Weapon."

"That must have hurt," Blue Diamond commented.

"Yes, My Diamond, it did. Then she pinned me to the desk with her knife-it went right through my hand, I had to tear my form just to get it off-"

"Thank you, Blue Zircon," Blue Diamond interrupted.

Blue Zircon shut up, a dash ashamed. "Yes, my Diamond."

Blue Diamond's cloak and hood rustled and wiggled as the Diamond rolled her shoulders a little. After all, the throne did not seem to have any cushions. Zircon let out a huff. Even the seating in the court coordinator's office had cushions. Itchy, thin, shaggy cushions, but still. One would think the Diamonds would enjoy a little luxury.

Blue Diamond studied a palm, then stared at Blue Zircon. "Zircon, I won't ask you any more questions. You seem to be adept at answering. I'm more interested in seeing you in action."

A question appeared on Zircon's face, but Blue Diamond did not pause, offering no gap to ask.

Wrinkles appeared around the Diamond's eyes, animating her face a little. "There is only one last hurdle for you, Zircon. If you manage to handle this problem with grace, intellect, and cunning, I shall assign you to this case." Blue Diamond's eyes briefly shot up to the ceiling, and she muttered, "…Even if you lose, I shall assign you."

Her eyes snapped back to Zircon, making her start. "I have spent a long time designing a certain puzzle, and I shall now give it to you. It will please me if you set your mind to my puzzle completely." The Diamond's expression picked up. She looked genuinely excited as she shot a glance into the curtains lining the chamber.

Blue Pearl reappeared, cradling a square black slab. She set the board in front of Zircon. Zircon studied the board intently, eyes darting across its polished surface. Seven lines divided the board into eight rectangular spaces. Tiny cracks all around the rectangles led Zircon to believe they could be pressed.

"Zircon, the puzzle does not lie in the board's construction," said the Diamond calmly, but with a hint of impatience.

Zircon snapped her neck up quickly, reclining back into a sitting position. There had been no hint of admonishment, but Blue Zircon did not want to push her luck.

Blue Diamond waved her hand quickly than Zircon expected. Blue Pearl spoke, "Each of these buttons cycles through three colors: pink, white, blue and yellow. There is a reset button on the side."

 _The colors of the Diamonds,_ Zircon thought. She could not tell if that coincidence was meaningful without more evidence, of course…

"When you press one button, it will also affect the other buttons. Please experiment and try to switch all button colors to pink."

"O-okay," said Blue Zircon uncertainly. She hesitated before reaching for the board, waiting for a reaction from either, but none was forthcoming. Zircon flipped the board over, and inspected it. The square had a hairline crack all around its edges. Zircon traced the fine crack with the tip of her index finger. About halfway through, in the middle of an edge, the crack deepened as a depression opened under it, forming a little ridge. Zircon wedged her finger into it, trying to pry off the cover. _It might be useful to see how this thing was made…maybe there are clues…?_ She thought, completely absorbed in trying to wrench the cover off. The cover resisted Zircon valiantly, but she could tell the cover was loosening.

"…Are you cheating?" asked the voice of Blue Diamond, a touch incredulous. Her eyebrows had leaped up to her brow.

A moment passed before Blue Zircon realized to whom Blue Diamond addressed her words, and another passed before she realized what the words Her Diamond spoke meant.

Absolutely alarmed, Blue Zircon spluttered out meaningless gibberish. The words became mangled and crushed by trying to speak at the same moment her body started. She let go of the board; it fell to the ground noiselessly. "I-I was just trying to open it up and see-"

"Please proceed in the way instructed," Blue Pearl said. "You won't be penalized, so please get started."

Blue Zircon said, "Y-yes," and bowed her head, flipping over the board, and pressing the first button on the left. It glowed white. None of the others changed. Shivers raced along her body, the effects of being nervous and having been startled too much. Slowly she recovered from her flight-or-fight state, and with her recovery returned her clear thought. The first order of business was to discover what pressing each of them did. Zircon pressed the white button. It turned pink, and the button on the far right turned white.

Blue Zircon whipped out a holographic screen, and began to write combinations on it. As she did so, she looked sheepishly from Blue Pearl to Blue Diamond. Neither of them spoke a word. Zircon lowered her eyes, hoping her reading of their silence was correct. Zircon wrote down her first trial-cycling through each button, and recording the number of presses for each and the effects on the other buttons.

One full cycle for the first button (white, pink, yellow, blue) changed the far right button to white, the second button from left pink, and the third button from right yellow. Blue Zircon finished the first entry, and pressed the reset button. The lights of the board vanished. Zircon repeated the procedure with the second button from left. That cycle (blue, pink, yellow, white) changed the first button from left white, the third button from left pink, and the second button from right white. Zircon continued for each, then brought up all results for each of the eight buttons, and fished for a pattern.

Indeed, a pattern surfaced. Despite each button having its own unique cycle pattern, the effects of each press did not change, but shifted with the button. Specifically, for each button further to the right, the effects would shift that many places over. Blue Zircon felt the blood in her form quicken, filling her head with a pleasant flush. With this pattern, she could devise a pressing sequence to turn each button pink!

Only a few moments passed before Zircon finished the calculation of the correct sequence. She pressed each button in quick succession, glancing many times at her hologram to confirm and re-confirm the sequence. On the last button, two buttons turned pink, except for the far left and far right, which turned yellow and blue, respectively. Zircon stared at the yellow light for a bit then tilted her head to gaze at the blue button, not understanding why the buttons had not turned pink, as they should.

"Hm. Maybe you should try again," Blue Diamond said, with a chuckle.

"Y-yes, of course, My Diamond," Blue Zircon said, pressing the reset button. Slightly irritated, Zircon repeated her process from before to the letter, re-recording the buttons' cycles and their effects. For each button, her irritation grew. The sequences had changed completely. The buttons no longer flashed the same sequence of colors, and the effects had been randomized. No kind of pattern could be drawn at all.

Zircon probed her snaggletooth as she hit the reset button and repeated her process for the third time in a row. She formed a hypothesis, and confirmed it: Every time the reset button was hit, the color sequence and effects changed.

Blue Zircon closed and opened her fingers, then bent them to relieve the building pressure. She had to form a different method of attack, but all of her theorized methods proved unfruitful. There was no need to even try them on the board. Even half-formed, hovering in her mind, she could predict her plans of attack would fail. Zircon crossed her legs, and hunched over the board, mind hunting for an idea.

Many failed attempts later, a light blue hand clamped over the front of the board, startling Zircon.

The Blue Pearl said, lifting the board slightly, "The trial is now over. My Diamond and I have watched you carefully, and have decided that we have observed all that we can. Furthermore, any additional attempts to solve the puzzle would be meaningless, as the puzzle is not meant to be solved."

Blue Zircon shakily got to her feet, protesting as Blue Pearl tried to take away the board. "Wait…Wait! I can still try again-I'll get it next time! I-!" Blue Zircon did not know what would happen if she did not complete the puzzle, forgetting that Blue Pearl said she wouldn't be punished, and that the puzzle had no solution.

Blue Pearl shushed her. "You are too jumpy. You are not in danger, so please cut a figure that instills confidence in your Diamond."

Zircon winced a bit at the barb, and lowered her head slightly. Blue Pearl handed her several files. As she accepted them, they winked out of existence with a glimmer of brilliant blue light. In her hologram control screen, a notification popped up: _Six files uploaded._

"My Pearl has handed you the documents, so I expect that you will have received them," said Blue Diamond, folding her hands on her lap. "I will give you a summary of the case you have been assigned to, so give me your attention."

Blue Zircon lowered the control screen, and saluted her Diamond. Blue Diamond began to speak, quickly and sharply, her eyes wandering off to the side. "This is not a matter I want to dwell on while you are here, so…"

Blue Diamond's eyes flicked back to Zircon, pinning her in place with a much harder look than before. "A grave crime was carried out against the Diamond Authority by one Rose Quartz, of the Rebellion. She will be put on trial within any number of days. You are her defense. I expect you to carry out a thorough investigation. If any aspect of this case does not ring true in any way, you are to set things right by any means necessary, reporting to me directly. Do you understand?"

Zircon saluted again, "Yes, My Diamond! I will do as you command!" A question scraped against Zircon's mind, so important Zircon just had to ask, despite the perhaps inopportune timing. Blue Diamond had skipped over the most important part of the case-the crime. "My Diamond?"

Blue Diamond's expression did not change. Zircon assumed she was allowed to speak, and spoke: "If I may ask, what exactly is the crime?"

Blue Pearl's head snapped up to Blue Diamond. Blue Diamond's lower eyelids trembled, then her eyes twitched once, twice, then seemingly uncontrollably. Blue Diamond's lips twisted, and she mashed her lips together. Finally she said: "She shattered Pink Diamond."


	4. Assignment, Part-END

Blue Pearl leaned her shoulder into Zircon's shoulder blades, providing the impetus for Zircon's movement. If Pearl did not shove against her constantly, Zircon would not have been able to move- she left the chamber in a state of shock. Pearl herded Blue Zircon into the center, then came around to her frontside, and awaited her return to reality.

It was not long in coming. Blue Zircon swallowed, then said to Blue Pearl, voice cracking, "Why do I have to defend the Diamond Killer? What did I do to deserve this? Why did you give me an unsolvable puzzle? Is there any chance you would explain to me, WHAT just happened in there?!" It didn't cross her mind that she was being unacceptably rude to the Pearl of a Diamond.

It wasn't as if Blue Pearl actually cared, though. More important matters were at hand. "I certainly can," she said.

"What?" asked Blue Zircon, stunned. Blue Pearl did not have a reputation for being chatty like Yellow Diamond's did, yet here she was, talking extensively throughout the entire trial and aftermath. Speaking of the ruthless, logical, Yellow Diamond, how would she react if she heard of this…?

"First I will explain the puzzle," said Blue Pearl. "My Diamond is in possession of Pink Diamond's Zoo, and human artifacts. She came across an interesting idea in human fiction-an unsolvable test used to screen young cadets. My Diamond was inspired, and with the encouragement of Yellow Diamond, created the board you saw. She gave it each of the Gems in this room." Blue Pearl tilted her head. "…You might think this used time better spent in other ways. Indeed, a certain Pearl might agree with you. But it has cheered up my Diamond, given her something to focus on, so it was worth it. Now, for the more important part."

Blue Pearl stopped to clear her throat. Zircon thought, " _She must not be used to speaking so much_."

After a moment, Pearl proceeded to explain in a speech that came out fluidly and without pause. "My Diamond has suspicions about this seemingly sharp-faceted case, but does not know if these are founded in logic, or her own grief. She does not wish to cause undue trouble to her sisters by appointing a difficult defense, nor does she desire to condone the shattering of Pink Diamond. So My Diamond has vacillated between appointing the best of her retinue, and just leaving the appointment alone, to let her suspicions go. She has decided to balance between the two extremes."

Blue Zircon placed a hand on her drenched forehead. "W-what? But why me? I'm not the best!"

Blue Pearl expanded. "No you are not. Indeed, My Diamond considered Béhierite for the longest. Your skills are not too far below Béhierite's. Therefore, in step with her fuzzy suspicions, she as appointed you. Someone whose skills are sufficient to handle a sudden twist in difficulty and who has been placed into danger before; the case does not warrant the best of the best."

Silence reigned in the hall for a moment. Then Pearl said, almost as afterthought, "And this case may become very dangerous. Should something unfortunate happen, the loss of Béhierite would be felt more than the loss of yourself."

It clicked. Blue Zircon said, "So I'm just…expendable?"

Blue Pearl fixed Zircon with a look from under her hair. "No Gem is expendable. You should have more self-worth!" Zircon flinched.

Blue Pearl folded her arms, and gracefully swept around, presumably to rejoin her Diamond. She paused halfway there, tilting her chin skywards, wondering if she should offer some form of comfort. "As I have said, you are a balance between doing nothing and going all-out. Please, do your best, but do not disappoint My Diamond."

Right before the door shut, she added: "The court coordinator will hand you the details."


	5. Pre-Investigation, Part-END

Next chapter, we start the trial! I'll definitely flesh that chapter out. Testimonies from witnesses, and all that.

Zircon still thinks of Steven as Rose at this point.

* * *

The Court Coordinator's Office was an oval room, with a low ceiling, almost like a cavern. Rows and rows of powder blue benches lined all walls but the back wall, auditorium style. A glass protector closed off the inner workings of the Office from the waiting room. Six secretaries' desks sat just behind the glass. The Ambers filed away request forms, checked over IDs, and occasionally called out a Zircon's name, a call for them to fetch their requested files.

No stations but one were open, so Zircon approached that one. The Amber behind the glass hunched her shoulders over a form, tracing the letters with her finger. Every so often, she would write comments or corrections on the hologram with her finger, in red. The Amber glanced up. "Speak," she said, not ceasing her ministrations.

"Of course," said Blue Zircon, only a little miffed. "I am here to pick up detailed case files of a case."

"Fill out this form," said the Amber, still multitasking. She slammed her fist down upon the table. A large amber spot appeared. Amber banged her fist down three times, then slapped her palm down once. The glass wall before Zircon whirred, and Zircon placed one of her holograms against it, downloading the file. Zircon sat down on one of the seats, and began to file the form.

Zircon had filed many such forms before, and completed the form within a minute. She turned it in. The Amber glanced at it, then stopped. Zircon huffed to herself. Apparently the Amber had noticed the case Blue Zircon had requested.

The Amber's head rose to be level with Zircon's. To do this, the Amber had to step onto her stool. Zircon sighed internally. She would not be getting her files quickly. Anytime an Amber did not send the files back immediately, either the form had an error, a problem existed with the form, or the Amber did not believe that the filer had clearance to check out those files. From experience, Zircon mused that the Amber would run a check on her, trying to confirm Zircon could check out those files.

Before Zircon could speak, the Amber shoved the files down the chute, and faced her again. "You'll have your files in six hours."

Zircon scowled. "Doubting my credentials, I see?"

Wrinkles appeared around the Amber's eyes and mouth. "Yep. I don't think such an important case could be given to a Zircon…like _you_."

Zircon's nostrils flared, but she did not take the bait. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another Amber's station free up. Zircon dashed over, before the station could close. The Amber started, "Yah!"

"Can you take me to your supervisor?" she hurriedly spoke. Zircon would not waste any time waiting for her to be cleared if she could help it. Across the room, the Amber she had been dealing with yelled something about clearances. The Amber before her did not pay any attention to the other Amber, and slammed down her palm, summoning the amber circle. The Amber slapped her palm down once. The circle turned a brilliant golden, and the Amber looked back at Zircon. "Okay. My supervisor will see you now."

Zircon's efforts were a complete disaster. The Supervisor Amber was the worst kind of Gem, she growled to herself as she stalked down the hallways, eventually returning to her office. Zircon wasted no time in spreading out whatever files she had and reading over them.

If Zircon had felt horrible before this, that was nothing compared to now. The more she read, the more Zircon believed this was a suicidal case to give any Zircon. From the files, the case seemed to be very simple. If Zircon had to wrap up her case in a nice package, pretty bow and all, she'd say: "Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond, and there were many witnesses."

Zircon flung her hologram back onto her desk, and sunk her teeth into her thumb. She would have to discredit all those witnesses; the prosecution would not be satisfied with one or two, but would likely parade every single witness through the trial, grinding Zircon and her client into guilty dust.

…

Zircon buried her face in one hand, covering up her monocle. Her other hand lay limply on her knee. It was possible only one or two witnesses would be called. She would have to wait until the prosecution had to give her their material. Then she could prepare a defense. _There's probably no way to get an innocent ruling. Maybe I could avoid execution…life in jail maybe…_

Zircon shook her head, and face-desked. She immediately regretted it as pain lanced up her skull, then dulled into a throb. Blue Diamond would not ever accept such a poor job-she had tasked Blue Zircon with the duty of unpeeling the lies to reveal the truth (if, indeed, there was a different truth than the one espoused in the case files).

Zircon took a moment to return from the brink of despair. She flirted with the idea of throwing a fit in the privacy of her flat, to get that satisfaction, but decided against it. Zircon sighed. She certainly had to try her best.

She would first go to the witness barracks. From the witness list, all seemed to be soldiers of some sort, excepting the three courtier Gems. Zircon decided to aim for the soldier Gems. …It was not a nice thing to do, but Zircon had to sink her fangs into a lead. She would have to somehow dupe one of those soldiers into leaking some information. Prosecutor leads, fuzzy memories, whatever. Zircon would take anything at all.

Zircon stretched every joint in her body, sending a warm haze through her body. Renewed, Zircon tapped her monocle, recalling all holograms. She set off running, for the barracks.

It took only a few quips and direct questions with the Barracks Coordinator to find out which witnesses had arrived recently. Apparently, only a Ruby had arrived. A series of Zircons had visited the Ruby, but no Gem had come in the past hour. As the Barracks Coordinator told her so, Zircon tried to relax her face, not to let the worry show. It troubled Zircon- _the prosecution's case must be very tight, if they brought only one witness_. Zircon thought. The Coordinator led Zircon to the Ruby's quarters. As the door clicked open, Zircon mused, _Perhaps the prosecutor is counting on a reaction from the Diamonds-a knee-jerk judgement._ Zircon sighed. She hoped the prosecutor assigned was not of the showboat variety-she hated those. Their theatrics never failed to yank her train of thought off its tracks.

Inside the room a Ruby sat on the floor, motionless. When she turned around, the Ruby had a blank expression; her Gem gleamed from the socket of her eye. The Barracks Coordinator introduced the two, then left the room.

Blue Zircon decided to start off easy, to feel this Gem out. Would she be suspicious? Perhaps the happy-go-lucky kind? Looking at the Eyeball Ruby's gem placement, Zircon felt she would indeed be the watchful kind.

The Eyeball Ruby spoke before Blue Zircon did. "Are you here to ask me about that case?"

 _Quick and to the point. The Prosecutor must have spoken to her before me._ Blue Zircon nodded. "Indeed, I am-"

"And I don't suppose you'd know who the deceased is?" asked the Ruby, leaning forward.

Zircon let her face droop, disbelieving. It was impossible that this Ruby did not already know the answer-

"Don't gimme that look! Just answer!" snapped the Ruby.

Zircon's eyelashes fluttered, but she did not drop her expression. "Rose Quartz, of course…"

"EXACTLY!" shouted the Eyeball Ruby, springing to her feet and jabbing a finger at Zircon. Zircon's arm instinctively crossed over her chest as she leaned back, as if to dodge a blow.

"That yellow Zircon who was in here earlier, do you know what she said?" said the Ruby indignantly, drawing closer to Zircon, head tilted slightly to the right, eyes on her face.

"What-"

The Ruby plowed forward. Zircon doubted that the Ruby actually cared about her own responses. Zircon surmised something had happened during her meeting with that Yellow Zircon (by the stars, it had better not be _her_ ) to set the Ruby off like this. Zircon decided to let the Ruby talk, and to agree with her. Maybe she'd just up and offer her information.

"-she said that! She really did! About Pink Diamond! These newfangled idiots, they don't know about Pink! Nobody cares anymore." The Eyeball Ruby paced around in a circle, before planting her feet before Zircon. " _You_ did your research. I'll cooperate! Rose Quartz has to pay for what she did!" The Ruby swept her hand across the space in front of her. To Zircon's annoyance, a sharp pain shot through her Gem as the flow of blood picked up in her body.

Zircon squeezed her Gem, readjusting it in her tie to calm herself. The Ruby had just thrown her a foothold, and she would use it. "I-I suppose you were a soldier of Pink Diamond's?"

The Ruby ceased her rant, and stepped up far too close to Zircon. "Yeah. I was. Not for that long. But you know what's important?"

Zircon withdrew a bit, crinkling her forehead in irritation at the closeness. "What's important?"

"I was there when _Rose Quartz_ shattered Pink Diamond." Ruby's aggression dropped from her voice, becoming quieter and more subdued. She sat on the floor, staring at Zircon's feet. "And now, she'll get the justice she deserves."

"What do you mean, you were there?" Zircon had read the files. She knew the Ruby _had_ been there. However, she wanted the Ruby to offer the information-if Zircon asked directly, the Ruby might smell a rat. If she hadn't already, of course.

The Eyeball crosses her arms. "Whaddya think it means? I was _there_ , by the palanquin. Oh, I know. You wanna know exactly where."

"So…on Earth, Pink Diamond was in her palanquin. I was standing right by those spider legs of her palanquin, and we had gone some ways before Rose Quartz appeared, and shattered her!"

Blue Zircon chewed on Ruby's words for a bit. She gave a little start as a large notification of an incoming video call popped up on her monocle. Annoyed, Blue Zircon dismissed the notification.

Before drawing out a much more detailed story to complement the Ruby's account in the case files, she would have to see how clearly Ruby saw the events. "And so, how clearly did you see Rose Quartz? Did you see her Gem?" she asked.

The Ruby frowned a little. "Now what does that mean? I didn't have to see her face to know it was her!"

Zircon withdrew a little, mentally jotting down one line of defense-Ruby had not seen the attacker's Gem. She would have to make doubly sure, but this was a start. Now, she had to soothe the Ruby. "Of course, of course. How far away were you from the site of the shattering?"

"About 100 feet. But that doesn't matter! I saw the curls and the sword! That sword, it hit Pink Diamond right on the Gem! I heard it hit!" protested Ruby, growing agitated.

As Zircon write down Ruby's words busily on a hologram, the Ruby seemed to realize something. She drew a little closer to Zircon, gazing at the hologram. "Who are you, anyway?"

Zircon stopped her writing immediately. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, what are you doing here? Are you defending Rose Quartz?" asked Eyeball.

Zircon mentally groaned. The Ruby had finally caught on. It didn't matter, though. "I am the Defending Zircon for the Royal Court." Another notification appeared. Zircon dismissed it without thinking.

" _Defending_?" said Ruby. "You're defending that traitor, Rose Quartz?" the Ruby glared at Zircon, eye wide, pupil shrunk to a point.

Zircon could feel the back of her head throbbing, as the events of the day cascaded through her. "I was _assigned_ to this case," she said, irritation prickling up her sleeves.

"Why?" gasped Ruby. "Why…Why would you do that?"

Zircon gritted her teeth. "Didn't you hear me? I said-"

The Ruby imploded, clutching at her Gem. "Pink Diamond may not be around anymore, but that doesn't give you the right to **spit** all over her memory! What kind of Gem are you? You're a traitor, just like that Rose Quartz!" she bellowed, spit flying from her lips.

" **I am not a-** " Zircon shrieked in return, before catching herself. She did not trek all the way down here to waste her time in a shouting match with an Eyeball Ruby! She wanted information.

"Ooooh, I see now. You think I'm lying!" said the Ruby in a mocking tone.

Zircon only had the time to wonder if Ruby had been called a liar in the past before the Ruby began shouting at her again.

After a minute of wondering where the Barracks Coordinator went to, Zircon shouted at the Ruby to shut her up. "Be **QUIET** for a minute, you unpolished idiot!"

The Ruby shut up, but she did not lose a bit of her combativeness.

"I do not think you are a liar, I just want to know…"-here Zircon groaned-" _what did you see?_ It's important! I need to know the entire truth of this incident! How did Rose Quartz know where Pink Diamond was? Were there accomplices?"

Ruby blew air through her nose. "Accomplices? Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond! Who cares about accomplices? They're all shattered and gone now!" She continued mockingly, "Why would you care about the truth anyway? You're defending Rose Quartz!"

"Why do you keep getting hung up on that?" exclaimed Zircon, losing control of her temper. "I'm looking for the truth of the incident, you foggy idiot! I **HAVE** to know!"

Ruby slapped the top of her mouth with her tongue. "Oh yeah? You don't want to know! Noone does! I told that ridiculous Yellow Zircon how Pink was shattered, and she just wanted me to shut up and say whether Rose Quartz did it or not!"

The Ruby took two steps forward, and jabbed a finger at Blue Zircon. "I am telling you, I saw Rose Quartz shatter Pink Diamond."

Zircon couldn't stop herself from arguing, "But you never saw Rose's Gem! What if another Gem shapeshifted themselves into her?"

The Ruby yelled into the air, said: "I'll prove you wrong, you traitor Gem! You don't know a thing about Rose Quartz! You don't know a thing about Pink Diamond! You're just a Gem who was assigned to this, what would you know?"

"I-" Zircon began, but the Ruby continued: "Well, _I_ know. I saw Pink Diamond get shattered. And I'll do like that Zircon said. I'll tell the truth, and you _and_ her will both get SHATTERED!"

The Ruby shoved Zircon out of her room, and slammed the door. It was an easy task; after the first shove, Zircon darted out of the room. Zircon straightened up, and glared at the Ruby beyond the blue tinted door. The Ruby returned her gaze, arms folded, mouth clamped shut. She looked very upset.

Blue Zircon snorted, then half-wandered out of the compound, tired and disappointed. She had lost her temper far too quickly, and as a result, she would not be able to pry any more information from the witness. Checking the time, Zircon decided to annoy the clerks of the Court Coordinator's Office. The files should be almost ready. As she passed the reception desk, she scolded the Barracks Coordinator for conveniently deserting her post when Ruby started shouting.

Blue Zircon rode a Vein Lift to the Court Coordinator's Office. The Veins connected all of the vital areas of the Diamonds' Courts. One could only ride it if given clearance. The Arteries, on the other hand, could be used by any Gem. As a result, the Zircon enjoyed a calm, quiet ride. Zircon disembarked her ride, and entered the terminal.

As Zircon walked down the hallways to the Court Coordinator's Office, she heard a voice yelling. The voice could not be heard clearly, but as time went by, Zircon realized whomever it was shouted her name, and was running right at her. A Midnight Blue Zircon came hurtling down the hall, skidding to a stop right in front of her.

"Where have you been?! The trial begins in 30 minutes!" screamed the Midnight Blue Zircon.

"Why didn't you _tell_ me this?" shouted Blue Zircon.

"I _did_! I tried to call you, but you wouldn't pick up!" yelled back the Midnight Blue Zircon. With a flash of dismay, Blue Zircon recalled several annoying voice call notifications during her little chat with the Eyeball Ruby. Zircon swallowed down fluid collecting around her mouth, and did not say anything.

The Midnight Blue Zircon seized her hand, and dragged her to the backroom of Court Coordinator's Office. The Backroom was spacious, with the walls covered in tags, each denoting the place of several electronic files. An Amber rocked back and forth of a computer screen, impatiently waiting for several files to finish unencrypting.

When she saw Zircon arrive, dragging relentlessly by Midnight Blue, she seized Zircon's tie and slammed her monocle into the computer screen. "Watch the Gem!" Zircon yelled.

The Amber held Zircon in position, as the screen flashed green. Zircon winced as lines and lines of transcripts, forensic reports, pictures of the crime scene, witness interviews, etc, download themselves into her monocle. The instant the file transfer finished, the Amber shoved Blue Zircon into a very small dumbwaiter-like chute.

"This will take you just outside of Rose's room. Good luck!" gasped the Amber, breathlessly.

"Wait-" Zircon began. The chute shot down, disorienting Zircon to the point of queasiness.

Several minutes after Rose Quartz's arrival, Zircon reached the room where she would be contained. The Room was directly connected to the courtroom where Rose would be tried. Zircon entered the room, not taking a moment to compose herself. Her eyes were glued to her hologram screens. With the Trial looming just in front of her, Zircon felt her anxiety return like a sickening black wave.

She worried aloud, "This is ridiculous! 4,000 years of loyal service to the court, and this is what I get? Oh, I'm the unluckiest Zircon in the galaxy!"

Zircon tore her eyes off her many holograms and swept her gaze around for a large figure with voluminous pink curls. Instead she saw a small thing, colored brown and pink, darting towards her.

Zircon gasped, unprepared. "Wait, are you...Rose Quartz?" She couldn't believe it. Looking closely, Zircon could just see Rose's Gem through the pink shirt she wore. Zircon analyzed Rose's new form disapprovingly. The form was heavily carbon based, with many trace materials.

"Yeah," said Rose, downhearted.

"…Really?" she couldn't help but say.

"It's a long story," said Rose.

Zircon's eyelids fluttered closed as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she burst out, "Then I don't have time for it!" She groaned, digging her fingers into her palms. "We only have this brief moment to prepare your case!"

"Case?" asked Rose.

Zircon scowled at the Gem. Didn't the Crystal Gems have courtrooms wherever they came them? Didn't Pink Diamond provide adequate schooling for her prized Rose Quartz Gems? Or maybe terror had taken the polish off Rose's Gem. Either way, Rose just looked clueless. Zircon turned her attention back to her screens, groaning again. "Who am I kidding? This is pointless! We've all heard the rumors about the demise of Pink Diamond…" she continued her rant, ending with "That ridiculous disguise is only going to make you look more guilty!" She could at least discover why Rose had taken on that carbon form.

Instead, Rose said, "That's fine, because I am!"

Zircon's mind bucked at the words Rose had just said. This was bad. Not only did Rose seem to be guilty, as per the case files, but now she straight up _admitted_ to her guilt. There was no way Blue Zircon could get this case to stretch on long enough for her to turn up a report to Blue Diamond's liking.

She gasped, "Well, don't say that! Especially when you're out there!"

Rose yelled back, "Out where?! What's going to happen?!"

Zircon gave herself only a moment to internally scream, then she almost screamed aloud, "What did you think was going to happen, Rose Quartz?! As soon as that door opens, you're going on trial!"

As if on cue, the doors opened. Zircon swallowed again, wiped the sweat collecting rapidly on her forehead, and entered the courtroom along with Rose Quartz, hoping Rose would not lead them both to their shatterings.


	6. Trial, Part One

The next part wraps up the trial. Blue Zircon will poof, and wake up when she regenerates. The story'll go from there.

* * *

The courtroom of the Diamonds did not appear to be bounded by any roof. The darkness stretched as far as the eye could see; the room itself seemed to be a cylinder. Rose Quartz sat in a hollow recess and Blue Zircon stood upon a single white triangle.

Blue Zircon could not tell whether she had calmed down, or had emptied her reservoir of fright to the point of being unable to feel fear. Either way, she felt only slightly nauseous and afraid. She stood fidgeting, her hands twitching every so often. All she could do was wait.

She did not wait long. The three lines of the triangle glowed each a different color, one for each of the Diamonds; spotlights of that color shot out, connecting with the walls. Pale lines trisected the base upon which they stood in three. A beam of yellow blasted skywards, heralding the arrival of the Prosecutor, Yellow Zircon.

Blue Zircon glared at her. Yellow Zircon had a reputation for flattery and obsequiousness; she played to the emotions of the judges to nudge them in her favor. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. Blue Zircon wished to the stars that her tactics would fail, despite Blue Zircon having no real defense. Sweat popped out of her brow as she tried in vain to reign her thoughts in, to come up with a good defense. But she had not the time for that. She could only hope to pick enough scabs and point out enough technicalities to postpone the Diamonds' ruling a day. By the time the court would assemble the next day, Blue would have had a chance to thoroughly examine her dense case files.

All these thoughts passed in a flash; as soon as the Prosecuting Zircon caught sight of Blue, she quipped: "Defending a rebel? Isn't that… _Treason?_ "

Her tone of voice chafed against Blue's frayed nerves. She snapped, not really paying attention to her words, "I was assigned to this!" Immediately after, Blue Zircon thanked the stars above that she did not mention her Diamond's name.

Neither had the chance for any verbal jousting. Ahead of the two, two lights, yellow and blue, flashed up. Yellow and Blue Pearl appeared, the former with her hands behind her back, the latter with hands before her. The lack of an overhead white floodlight, harsh voice and glaring presence of the spiky White Pearl, and removal of the courtroom roof struck Zircon as odd. Was White Diamond not going to observe?

Yellow Pearl sang out, striking a pose, "All rise for the luminous Yellow Diamond!"

Blue Pearl murmured demurely, bowing, "And the lustrous Blue Diamond."

The center of Zircon's chest, near her Gem, burned with a sudden pain at the upcoming humiliation she would have to endure.

The light of a warp flashed-Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond had arrived. As she saluted (without any embarrassing mishaps) Zircon looked up at Blue Diamond's face, but the Diamond had her forehead nestled against the other's chin. Her eyes were closed. White Diamond did not appear, nor did anything that would clue in a hidden presence.

Blue Diamond's eyes opened. She slid her temple off of Yellow Diamond's chin, and swept her gaze around the room. "Where is the accused?"

Yellow Diamond's eyes traveled down to Steven. "Is that Rose Quartz? Look at this hideous form she's taken. Forget the trial. We should shatter her just for looking like that!"

Two thoughts popped into Blue Zircon's mind. The first was that she had indeed been correct about Rose's carbon-based form. The second, more absurd thought, was that she could give the excuse of Rose Quartz reforming into a more proper form when asking for a one day postponement.

Blue Diamond said as a rejoinder, "No. I want to hear her make her case. I want to know what she thinks we're going to do with her…because I want to do something **_worse_**."

Below Zircon, Rose made a strange noise, and her throat area wobbled. Zircon's eyes flashed towards Rose, realizing that she had gulped. From the files, Rose Quartz was a fearless Quartz warrior. Zircon wondered if Rose had been good at acting. At any rate, Blue Zircon doubted playing to her Diamonds' better natures would work at all.

Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes. "Fine." She cut through the air with a hand, summoning two color coded thrones. The Diamonds sat. "Let's just get on with it, shall we?" Yellow Diamond rested one leg upon the other, slouching just a bit in her throne. Her chin rested on her palm. Obviously, she didn't care that much about this Trial. Blue Diamond sat in her chair, arms rested on the throne, actively paying attention. The two Pearls took up their stations, and began to record all that occurred during the Trial.

Blue Zircon quickly ran through her plan's first phase in her mind. Wait for Yellow Zircon do something she wasn't notified of. Then use that to eke out some form of postponement from the Diamonds. Blue Zircon layered her hands nervously. …Her plan was not going to work, she could feel it in her Gem…

The Prosecutor Zircon began her case, with the flattery Blue Zircon expected. "My Diamond. My brilliant, opulent, radiant, glimmering-"

Surprisingly, Yellow Diamond cut her off. "'My Diamond' will suffice, or we'll never get through this." Zircon supposed Yellow Diamond truly was impatient. Perhaps she disliked the subject matter-all the Era Ones said all the Diamonds were close.

Yellow Zircon took her interruption in stride. She immediately saluted, and continued. "Of course, My Diamond." She paused to clear her throat. "Rose Quartz committed a crime so unprecedented that one can't help but wonder, "Why"? Exhibit A." Yellow Zircon snapped a finger, and something warped onto the Prosecutor's evidence floor.

"Lars!" cried out Rose. She seemed to be very distressed. Did they know each other…?

The Lars cried out to someone unseen, "Steven, what's going on here?! Where are we?" Yellow Zircon placed a yellow air bubble around its head. This did not faze the carbon creature, for it continued looking at Rose, and calling out to the Steven, "Who are those huge giant ladies?!"

Zircon glanced from the thing to Rose. She instantly realized this creature could not have been in any of the case files. It was within only 20 years of age, and anything related to Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz needed to be thousands of years old. This must be a very recent acquaintance.

Blue Zircon pounced upon this opportunity, raising her hand in the air. "Objection, My Diamonds!" she called out, voice wavering only slightly.

The Yellow Zircon shot her a look. Yellow Diamond's frown grew a little, and Blue Diamond's eyes swiveled from Steven to her. Otherwise, neither moved. Blue Diamond said: "You may speak."

Blue Zircon had been rehearsing this speech for the past few minutes before the trial, ready to be used at any moment. She barfed up her argument on the spot, with confidence born from practice: "I object to this witness"-Blue Zircon hoped it was, in fact, a witness-"being called upon at this time. The Prosecutor's Office has not given any prior notice that this witness would be called upon to testify! Furthermore, if it will provide an expert opinion, I, the defense, need time to conduct discovery on any tests it has done or findings it has prepared."

Zircon paused only a second. She could not give a chance to the Yellow Zircon to interject. "A-as My Diamonds know, the defense has to be given advance notice of all witnesses testifying, so I can provide the accused a proper defense. Therefore, I request a one day postponement of this trial, so I can prepare for this cross-examination, scrutinize this witness's reports, if they exist, and provide a witness of our own, one who could be in a position to contradict this witness's conclusions!"

Blue Zircon let out a huff as she finished. The Yellow Zircon scoffed. Yellow Diamond said, "With all the time you consumed to say that, we could have been finished by now. Overruled."

A slight, almost nonexistent, prickle of disappointment crept up Blue Zircon's spine and legs. This was just the first phase…she would get her chance in the rebuttal phase of the Trial, she told herself.

Yellow Diamond gestured for the Yellow Zircon to continue.

Yellow Zircon saluted once more, and continued: "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the defense (who is suspiciously eager to defend a traitor)…This specimen shows that humans are loud, absolutely hideous creatures that serve no purpose whatsoever. What sort of Gem would turn on her own kind for _this_? I'll tell you what kind"-here she jabbed a finger to Rose-"a-that kind."

Rose (…also known as Steven?) cried, "Just let him go! He's got nothing to do with this!"

Blue Zircon resisted the urge to reassure her that the Diamonds would not harm the Lars. There was no point, no logical reason, in doing so. However, she had just pushed her luck, and needed to do so again in her defense. She stayed quiet, watching the Yellow Zircon make her defense.

The Prosecuting Zircon exclaimed, "There it is! The passion, the fury - that caused the diabolical Rose Quartz to...shatter her own Diamond!" The words settled in the courtroom, then Zircon continued: "But I know what you're thinking," she said as she kneeled by Steven, who looked slightly alarmed at her approach. "'This thing doesn't look like a Rose Quartz.' And for that, I'd like to call an eyewitness!"

Blue Zircon watched, dread bubbling up in her Gem, as the witness platform rose from the ground. In it stood a very angry Eyeball Ruby, the exact same as the Ruby she had picked a fight with. The Eyeball Ruby glared at her, then shifted her gaze to Rose with a growl.

Rising slightly from her sitting position, Rose cried out, "Eyeball!"

Eyeball spat, "Do not address me, war criminal!"

Rose sank down a bit, murmuring, "I'm just glad you're okay." Zircon kept her eyes focused on Eyeball, but she thought of Rose's words. For a Gem who shattered a Diamond, she was surprisingly caring.

Eyeball did not need prompting to begin with her testimony. She started immediately after snapping at Rose. Casting her hands in the air, she mimicked Rose's words: "I heard it straight from her. She said, "I'm the mighty Rose Quartz! I've got her shield and everything!" And then she threw me into space!"

Zircon kept an eye on Rose's expressions. This squashy form of hers betrayed her emotions far better than the Rebellion Rose's smiling mask. Zircon watched the expressions change through the testimony. First discomfort, then unease, shock and indignance. Rose did not seem to be angry-Eyeball was probably telling the truth. But when did this happen? And under what circumstances? Zircon did not think Rose would be foolish enough to tell an enemy soldier of her identity…Zircon quietly regretted not getting more useful information from the Ruby.

Rose yelled, "I tried to _help_ you! I **healed** your gem!"

…Rose Quartz tried to heal an enemy? Zircon twisted around her wrist to relieve some of the pressure. She could only wait until her time to cross-examine came. She mentally jotted down some questions.

The Eyeball yelled back, "And who else has the ability to heal gems other than the villainous Rose Quartz?!"

The Yellow Zircon sliced off anything Eyeball would have said next, regaining the reins of the testimony. She said, "And there you have it. Rose Quartz did it and that's Rose Quartz. I rest my case."

Zircon glanced at the Diamonds' face. Yellow Diamond looked mostly apathetic and annoyed. Someone ready to make any judgement asked for. Blue Diamond's face no longer had the edge it had at the trial's beginning-she seemed to have calmed a bit. That was bad for Blue Zircon. Reluctantly, she had to admit to herself, "Oh, she's good."

Yellow Diamond proclaimed, "Well, I'm convinced. Time to execute!"

Blue Diamond instantly followed that up by saying, "Not yet. The defense still has to speak." She looked at Blue Zircon, face regaining its former hardness.

"Y-yes!" Blue Zircon croaked. "But before that, I'd like to cross-examine the witness!" The Eyeball Ruby growled at her.

"Is that really necessary?" Yellow Diamond said aloud.

"Of course it is. Begin," ordered Blue Diamond.

Blue Zircon swallowed, and turned to gaze up at the Eyeball Ruby. Ruby's arms were crossed, her left lip twitching in a snarl. She looked angry, but not quite as angry as she had been. "About your testimony, when did this occur?"

"When did this occur? …Stardate-" Eyeball Ruby began.

"This incident occurred, oh…some time ago. My witness can't quite remember when," intruded Yellow Zircon, busily investigating her sleeves.

Blue Zircon scowled. "That question was meant for the witness. Would the witness please answer next time?"

"Oh! Well, you never said that…" giggled the Yellow Zircon.

Blue Zircon quickly swiveled to her next question, already assured of her gambit's failure.

"Where did this incident occur?" Blue Zircon asked.

"Er…" the Eyeball Ruby glanced down at the Yellow Zircon, who graciously intervened. "This incident occurred near Rose Quartz of course."

Blue Zircon no longer saw a point in continuing this method of attack. She decided to try another. As the witness platform sunk back down, she turned to her Diamonds and spoke: "My Diamonds! I would like to call into question the relevance of this witness's testimony!"

Yellow Diamond lifted an eyebrow. Her face slide down her palm a little, squashing her cheek against her teeth. Blue Diamond asked, "On what grounds?"

"The accused is on trial today of the charge of shattering Pink Diamond! The issue of whether this carbon lifeform is Rose or not is not a truly important one. The accused here has been brought from Earth by a Second Era Aquamarine. Such a powerful escort and battle cruiser would not have been chosen unless it was already determined that this"-here she gestured at Steven-"was indeed Rose Quartz!

"The witness has given no testimony about the events of many thousand years ago, when Rose Quartz supposedly shattered Pink Diamond. Therefore, I request that this witness's testimony be disregarded and struck off the record." She struck a salute to Blue Diamond as she finished.

The Yellow Zircon came forward to speak, but Yellow Diamond raised her hand. "Overruled again. It's common knowledge that Rose Quartz did indeed shatter Pink Diamond. All we need to know is if that is the right creature to destroy, come judgement time."

Blue Diamond let out a breath. "…Although I must demur, I would like to get to the defense now. And that Aquamarine was not present on Earth to fetch Rose Quartz. She only chanced to meet her there, and being her back."

…Then why was that Aquamarine sent to Earth…?

Recovering from her stupefaction, Zircon stuttered, "Right! O-of course My Diamond!" She gave a nervous chuckle, then began her defense, to the snickers of Yellow Zircon. "Well, uh, before I start my very... uh, _thought out_ defense, I'd like to remind the court that Rose Quartz did turn herself in!"

Yellow Diamond gazed down at her. Blue Zircon's multiple interruptions seemed to be angering her Diamond. She said brusquely, "The court remembers, and the court does **not** care."

Blue Zircon hurtled forward, "Uh, of course!" She plucked up one of her holograms, and began to talk. "Innocent! Uh, the word innocent can mean, oh-many things." _What am I saying…?_ Zircon thought to herself. She didn't know, but she needed to get some kind of respite at any cost…

Zircon did not ramble on for long before she did indeed get her respite, though not in the form she wanted.

Rose sprang up, shouting, "I did it!"

Zircon choked on her words, dropping her holograms to the floor. "What? _What?!_ Stop!"

Blue Diamond thundered, " **No!** I want to hear what she has to say." She made the appropriate gesture, and Rose's platform soared into the air, setting her at the Diamonds' height. The bubbled Lars yelled something at Rose, but Zircon could not make it out.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Rose was _confessing_ to her guilt. Despite Rose saying as much to her in the holding cell, Zircon never dreamed this would actually happen…There was no way she would be getting anything from the Diamonds now. Rose was going to be shattered, and she would be punished.

Yellow Pearl called out, "State your name for the record, please!"

Rose answered, "I, um...I'm Rose Quartz. I'm guilty." She showed Yellow Pearl her Gem, to confirm her identity.

Zircon yelled up at Rose in vain from her position at the column base, " _WAIT!_ No, don't say _that…!_ "

Rose ignored her, barreling on, "Everything you guys said I did, I did. And I did it by myself. And I'm sorry. I'll accept any punishment you want to give me. Just let him go! And leave the Earth alone."

Yellow Diamond crowed, "Ha! Sounds like a solid confession to me!"

Zircon ripped at her hair with her hands. She didn't want to listen anymore.

If Yellow Diamond was convinced, Blue Diamond was not. Her face had not changed a bit. She scrutinized Rose, and asked, "How? How did you do it?"

Zircon could not see Rose's face from so far up, but she could hear her confusion.

Blue Diamond repeated, drawing closer, "How did you shatter Pink Diamond?"

After a pause, Rose spoke. "...well. I did it on Earth, in front of Pink Diamond's palanquin. I was probably like, "Stop!" and she was all like "No!" So we fought-I think. And she probably did some cool moves"-Blue Zircon whacked her head against the column-"I probably did some cool moves too, some jump kicks and stuff. But I was most likely deeply conflicted about deciding to shatter her. Definitely crying. I probably had to use the Breaking Point to do it." Zircon knew rambling when she heard it, and Rose was definitely rambling.

Blue Diamond did not find Rose convincing, either. She cried out, "It was a sword!"

The Diamond broke down in front of Rose, shielding her head in her hands. A curtain of deep blue suffused the entire room. Sadness poured forth from the Diamond, and Blue Zircon cried. Something devastating had just happened. Something that Blue Zircon's could cope with. She had to cry, to let all those tears out. Resting a hand against Rose's column, Blue Zircon pressed her hand to her face, wiping away the tears from her face.

Debilitating as the sadness wave was, Zircon managed to recover her composure when the blue wave retreated into its source of origin-Blue Diamond. "You shattered her… _with a sword._ " Crying, Blue Diamond sank back into her throne. Yellow Diamond came at once to Blue's aid, a hand on her shoulder. She reprimanded Rose sharply, in the sweetest words Zircon had ever heard spoken in this case: "That's quite enough testimony from you! We shall take a short recess."

The recess would only last an hour, but Zircon was confident it was long enough to draft a winning argument. First, she would have to confront Rose's bewildering behavior. The second the two re-entered Rose's holding cell, Zircon scolded Rose.

"What are you saying in there?! "Maybe" this, "probably" that! Oh, what do you mean, probably?!" Zircon took out her anger on the small creature, not bothering to keep her composure.

For her part, Rose seemed to be subdued. "Look I just...I don't actually know how it happened, okay?"

Zircon snapped, "You don't know?" This was starting to become ridiculous. Seizing her shirt, Zircon hoisted Rose into the air, at eye level. "Don't tumble my rocks! Both our gems are on the line! Did you do this or didn't you?"

"It was me, all right?!" Rose exclaimed. Zircon let go, and Rose fell to the floor. "Rose Quartz did it, and I've got her gem, so I'm the one who's got to pay for this!"

Zircon stayed quite for only a second. "So…You don't know how it happened."

Rose shook her head. Zircon summoned a hologram, and gazed at it, before speaking again, choosing her words carefully. "I get it. There's a reason they want you to explain how you did it."

Rose tilted her head, and gazed at Zircon with renewed attention.

Zircon finally understood why Blue Diamond wanted the defending Zircon to investigate the case thoroughly, and in secret. She still did not know what exactly had occurred when Pink Diamond died, but she knew one thing-the official story did not make a shard of sense.

Now she only had to draw up a convincing argument of why this was so. Steven watched as Zircon spread out her case files, combing the text for the truth.


	7. Trial, Part-END

Zircon continued her argument, far more composed than earlier. "Rose Quartz is flawed, I grant you. A shallow strata-gem who turned against her own kind out of a misguided attachment to a planet and creatures like these."

With a snap of her fingers, the Lars reappeared, babbling something out in surprise.

Blue Zircon ignored him, and continued to speak. Everything fit together enough to refute the idea that Rose Quartz had shattered Pink Diamond…for now at least. While she did not have a conclusive idea of who actually shattered Pink Diamond, she could tell some things from the incident, and identify suspicious players.

"It's indisputable that as the Diamond overseeing Earth, Pink was Rose Quartz's enemy. Rose had everything to gain by shattering her. But even though she may have wanted to shatter Pink Diamond, could she?"

For this purpose, Blue Zircon would need to present some visuals. "Blue Diamond, for the purpose of this argument, may I present your palanquin?"

Yellow Diamond grumbled, "Is this necessary?"

Blue Diamond countered, "Isn't it?" With a wave of her hand and a curtain of the light, the palanquin appeared. "Please, proceed."

Zircon approached the palanquin, mounting the first few steps. "Now, as the records show…Pink Diamond was shattered just outside a palanquin much like this. Witnesses say Pink had just stepped out and had only taken a few steps forward when Rose attacked her from the front!"

Blue Diamond's shoulders hitched. She let out a quick gasp before turning away. Yellow Diamond's eyes flickered to her fellow Diamond, monitoring her condition.

Zircon continued, adding a bit of eloquence to her argument: "But the question no one seems to be asking is, "how?""

Her rhetorical question did not go unanswered. Blue Diamond uncovered her face from the refuge of her sleeve, replying, " _I've_ been asking that question."

Blue Zircon stammered out in reply, not bothering to correct her Diamond's misunderstanding, " A-a-a-and right you are to ask, My Diamond! B-because at that time that Pink was shattered, Rose Quartz had been a recognized threat for several hundred years."

"There were no Rose Quartz soldiers in her entourage and none in her guard. So how did a Rose Quartz, with no business being anywhere near Pink Diamond, get so close in the first place? Where were Pink Diamond's attendants? Her Agates, Her Sapphires? And where was her Pearl?"

Yellow Pearl and Blue stopped their respective tasks. Blue Zircon marked them down for interrogation in the future. While their reaction was wordless and relatively discreet, Yellow Diamond's reaction was bold and angry. She slammed her fist down on her throne, shoulders beginning to hunch over. Yellow Diamond was losing her temper rather quickly. "They were with her, of course, they saw the whole thing!"

Zircon argued back, not stopping to realize that she, a Zircon, was arguing unrespectfully with one of the Matriarchs of the Gem World: "But none of them saw Rose Quartz approach? Wouldn't her Sapphires have seen Rose Quartz coming? Wouldn't her Agates have tried to fight her off?"

The Steven/Rose chipped in, "That is strange!"

Blue Diamond was beginning to catch on-she seemed very alarmed and surprised; alarm from Blue Zircon's argument (or so Zircon hoped), and surprise at her fellow Diamond's reaction.

Yellow Diamond snapped, "She must have slipped past them!"

Zircon shot down Yellow Diamond's argument quickly. "Even if she did, wouldn't her Pearl have cried out an alarm, "Watch out, My Diamond!"" She tried to emulate Pink Pearl's voice as best as she could, locking her arms behind her back, despite never having seen or heard anything about said Pearl.

Blue Zircon snapped her hands back down into a more comfortable arguing pose. "No, whoever did this was already close to Pink Diamond. Someone her guards would allow to get near her, someone she would listen to when asked to stop her palanquin and step outside, and someone with the authority to cover it up afterwards!"

Blue Zircon then said the most logical deduction she could think of without actually thinking about the ramifications of saying it. "Someone with supreme authority...! Someone... like one of you!" She jabbed her fingers at Blue and Yellow Diamond.

Blue Diamond gasped, face contorted in horror. Yellow Diamond's face smoothed out into one of slight disbelief. She stood up, and the import of her words crashed down on Blue Zircon, infusing her with fear. She didn't even hear the words she spoke as Yellow Diamond took her first step towards her.

Nary a few seconds did pass before Yellow Diamond crossed the space between her throne and Blue Zircon. With a flat expression on her face (even at this moment, Zircon wondered what Yellow Diamond felt to look so calm), Yellow Diamond bent over and, like a human would crush an ant, brought down her index finger on Blue Zircon's head.

Yellow Diamond brought down a force like the a thousand Gem Crushers at once. Zircon felt her form give only a moment's of resistance before she could stand no more, and poofed, fading into a temporary blackout.

Eventually, Zircon realized she could regenerate again. Huddling inside her Gem, she had limited sensory abilities, but could discern her Gem sat upon a cushion. Zircon supposed that she had been recovered from the courtroom, and that no one wanted to shatter her at this moment. Otherwise, why would she be resting on a cushion like this?

After a moment of further hesitation, she pressed herself against her Gem, and felt the upsurge of energy as she projected her form out into space. The whole process took only a moment, and Zircon rejoined the rest of the world.

Immediately upon regaining her physical form, Zircon looked around, eyes darting everywhere. She did not recognize the room in which she was contained. The room spanned 20 by 30 feet; Zircon sat upon a small cushion, perched atop a desk. The pastel gray walls were lined with file cabinets and holders. Several medals hung on the walls. A picture of a hand smoothing the shiny hair of a proud-looking Gem piqued Zircon's interest for a moment. The Gem's expression…she looked supremely smug, with a hint of adoration towards whomever had that hand. It made Zircon a little embarrassed to look at it, as if she had intruded upon a private scene.

She slid around, off the desk, nudging a swivel chair aside. She was in an office; however she did not recognize to whom it belonged to. Approaching a medal, Blue Zircon scanned it for the name of the Gem onto whom it was bestowed. "… _is presented with the highest honors to_ _Rhenium Diboride, c-axis…_ " Zircon chewed on the name a little, before dimly remembering the Chief of the Diamonds' bodyguards had a similar Gem name.

A strange feeling overcame Blue Zircon then, and tears stung at her eyes. Confused, Zircon flicked them away. The feeling returned, a little more powerful, and tears began to dribble from her eyes. _Blue Diamond is somewhere nearby…_ she thought as she crooked her head over the side of a wastebasket. Eventually, the flow of tears ebbed.

Blue Zircon had to wait only a minute or so before the door slid open. Blue Zircon advanced toward the open door, craning her head to see out. Row upon row of neat desks in a large open space greeted Zircon, along with a deluge of voices and noise. Blue Pearl entered from the side, flanked by several Agates and Topazes. Blue Zircon saluted her, and Pearl returned the salute.

One the door had shut, Blue Zircon bombarded the Pearl with her frantic questions.

"My stars, I really did accuse the Diamonds of shattering one of their own didn't I?! Blue Diamond's angry, isn't she? A-am I going to be shattered?" Blue Zircon peered around, not stopping, "Where's Yellow Diamond? And Rose? What happened to the case after I was poofed-?"

When Blue Zircon had finished, finally, Blue Pearl drew forth a scroll and spoke, "My Diamond has requested me to inform you that she was shocked when you accused her of shattering her beloved Pink Diamond. She has taken your allegation to heart, and needs time to process this turn of events. After such a time has passed, My Diamond will request your presence once more. She assures you that Yellow Diamond will not eviscerate your physical form in such a manner again."

Blue Pearl drew in a breath, and exhaled. "As for the war criminal Rose Quartz…she has escaped. You are to tell no one else of this happening. Your task has not changed. You have until the capture of the prisoner to lead your logic to its conclusions and unearth the truth. Any questions?"

"How did Rose Quartz escape?" asked Zircon, indignant. With Rose gone, Zircon had more time to research and prepare her case, but she would not be able to interrogate Rose either.

…Not that Rose seemed to know much. Assuming that form (Zircon vaguely recalled the Lars calling Rose 'Steven') must have excised all of Rose's memories. Not only that, Steven did not act as Rose should. Zircon wanted to know how exactly all of that came about.

"She used Blue Diamond's palanquin," the Blue Pearl said.

"…The same one I used in the Trial?" asked Zircon, her Gem starting to heat up a little.

"Yes," confirmed the Blue Pearl.

Zircon quickly ran through a mental list of suspicious people, witnesses and others she needed to question. There was no better time to get all the permissions she needed to do her research than now. Blue Zircon did not want a repeat of the Court Coordinator's Office to happen again.

She had something in mind-a particular emblem, given to agents of Blue Diamond, her sigil. "I have only one more request to make of Blue Diamond," she began.

"And that is? I'm not really in the position to grant request, however…"

"Simply, to give me a sigil of hers that will grant me the access I need to research this case fully."

"A sigil?" asked Blue Pearl. The tone of her voice had changed; Zircon realized this would take some persuasion.

"That's right," confirmed Zircon. "I wish to access to Royal Archives, for a thorough historical background of the events occurring during that period; I would like to be allowed to question all of the witness on this list"-here Zircon drew out a hologram of her classified case files, holding witness testimony-" _and_ I would like to be given the permission to question others involved in the incident, whether they have been issued a court summons or not."

The Pearl seemed a little bit stunned. "Some of those permissions have already been given to you, just by virtue of being a court defender…"

"Not every Gem will just trust my words. I'll need good hard proof to persuade them into telling me what I know." Zircon countered, forcing her voice to come out without breaking.

The Pearl shifted her feet. Zircon continued, "Pink Diamond is a Diamond! Those who may have witnessed her shattering won't just talk to the first Gem who asks them about it! Doubly so for the Royal Librarians! The types of battle plans I'll be asking for…they'll need a sigil! To fulfill my Diamond's request, I need that-!"

Blue Pearl cut off Zircon by whipping her hands up and crossing them. "I don't have the power to just give you something that important. I will relay your request to My Diamond." With that, she quickly turned around, and opened the door.

"What-!" began Zircon, but the Blue Pearl hurried off. Zircon glared at her back, before calming down. It was not truly the Pearl's fault; Zircon believed her when she said she could not grant such a request. Even so, Blue Zircon needed that sigil. Any Gem not directly named in her case files had every right to refuse her request for information. Zircon needed to know motives…and for that, she needed to take a trip to the Royal Archives, those tasked with chronicling the lives of the Diamonds.

With Blue Pearl gone, a tall Gem entered the small office. She stood tall enough to brush against the roof with her hair. Her irises glinted metallically, like her hair; her skin was dark black, like the powdered metal from which she came. She was garbed in the dress of a Diamonds' Guard; their insignia was emblazoned on her chest. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were shiny, like polished metal.

She chortled out, "That Pearl looked _spooked_. What'd you ask her for, permission to interrogate **White Diamond**?" Laughing at her own joke, the Gem flopped back down in her seat. Zircon laughed along with her as best as she could, but the 'joke' was right on the money, and thus very hard to laugh to. With a wave of the Gem's hand, the Agates escorted Zircon from the office. The second the door closed, Zircon gave the Agates an excuse to linger behind, and sat down immediately at one of the empty benches by the office.

The Agates shuffled back to their stations around the office, a few casting curious glances at Zircon. Zircon summoned her many holograms quickly. Before knocking on that Gem's door, she wanted to get a few things straight.

First, her basic case files. These came to her first; with the gift of hindsight, these files now read like propaganda. Reports on Rose, basic background information of the murder site, how it occurred, and forensics. Zircon lay them aside. She did not want to rely on them at all.

More important-her classified case files. Zircon mused these were created almost immediately after Pink Diamond's shattering. Even these seemed to be incomplete; Zircon nodded to herself. This was indicative of someone, most likely one or all of the Diamonds, covering up Pink Diamond's death. Still, a Diamond could only cover up so much. The truth needed to be transcribed somewhere. These classified files were a chunk of the truth; Zircon would collect these until she could thread her thoughts through every piece of the truth, knitting them into a clear whole.

The first part of those files contained a far more detailed forensics report, testimony of multiple witnesses, and all calls, telegrams, and forms of communication to and from the base near Pink Diamond's death on that day, several telling of the great destruction Pink Diamond brought when she was rattled. Included in this were writings directly taken from Pink Diamond's progress reports, in her own hand. The second detailed the movements of the rebels a week before and after the day of the murder. The third and final part detailed Pink Diamond's actions upon the Earth-all her Kindergartens, her actions and movements on the Earth, interactions with the rebels there, and so on.

From a hurried reading of these files, Blue Zircon pieced together a basic timeline of the events. Pink Diamond arrived on Earth for some reason, all her guards in tow. For another unknown reason, Pink Diamond ventured into the no man's land only a small distance from the nearest Gem base. They halted. A visitor (the records did not specify who; indeed, this visitor was presumed as unimportant) left Pink Diamond's palanquin first. As Pink Diamond herself exited the palanquin, a figure believed to have been Rose darted towards the two, and rebels attacked instantly, pouring forth from the ground. Notes on the material discussed the possibility of a traitor leading the rebels into that area, but no mention was made of who the visitor was, nor why Pink Diamond would leave.

Furthermore, the rebels had rarely been to that area. It was an area presumed to be safe. It was then that the witness accounts became jumbled, and contradicted each other. Apparently, something happened, and Pink Diamond was led far away from her guards, the visitor following. Her guards were prevented from following, and when they were able to fight off the rebels, they pursued. The guards' testimony wrapped up with a point upon which all agreed: something knocked all of them out. When all came to, Yellow Diamond had arrived with hers and the other Diamonds' troops; a military investigation was underway.

Blue Zircon combed through the witness reports. She wanted more information on the visitor, and how Pink Diamond was separated from her guards. Zircon slid out one report, the report of a Lieutenant in the Diamonds' Guard, by the name Rhedicax. Blue Zircon recalled the name of the Gem on the awards in the office: Rhenium Diboride, c-axis.

Zircon took a moment to collect herself, and to tidy up. The sigil was a token of power-whomever had one had been commanded by Blue Diamond to do something. To defy the wearer would be to defy Blue Diamond. Rhedicax was a witness named in the reports. She had to talk, even without the force behind the sigil impelling her to.

Rising up, Zircon spun on her heel and knocked on the door to Rhedicax's office. The Topazes who stood guard didn't move one inch. After all, no one had told them that Blue Zircon couldn't be there. Rhedicax opened the door within a few seconds.

"Ah, it's you," she laughed. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't the guards have escorted you out?" She leaned towards Zircon with a disinterested expression.

"Er…yes, but I have some questions to ask you!" She whipped out the testimony Rhedicax had given so long ago. Rhedicax accepted the hologram from Zircon, and scanned it. Her eyes flashed across the first few lines, expression slowly darkening. The ends of her mouth turned down slightly, and the skin around the top of her nose wrinkled. Zircon estimated she'd read about three paragraphs before Rhedicax lowered the hologram.

"You're the defending Zircon, yeah?" Rhedicax jerked her chin towards the exit. "Had a Yellow Zircon visit me some time ago. She didn't wanna know much. Just who shattered Pink." Rhedicax shrugged. "As you can tell, she didn't use my testimony."

Zircon perked up. A thread of questioning that prove fruitful! Unlike the Ruby, Rhedicax did not seem to be overly angry that Zircon was on the Defense's side. "I have only a few questions! They won't take very much of your time-"

Rhedicax's eyes flickered between Zircon's own, and then her gaze settled on her Gem. She stretched her lips across her cheeks. "That's great. Go ahead and ask. I just wanna ask some question of my own after this. That sound fine?" decided Rhedicax.

"Of course! So the Yellow Zircon wanted to know who had shattered Pink Diamond?" Blue Zircon queried.

Rhedicax hummed. "Right."

"So then, why was your testimony not used at trial? Why do you think?" asked Zircon. From Rhedicax's testimony, the former Lieutenant had been dueling a rebel at that moment, and had just knocked her opponent down when out of the fog, a figure with long curly hair and a ruddy-pink complexion had struck Rose.

Rhedicax shrugged. "I didn't see Rose all too well. So…"-here the Commander ushered Blue Zircon into her office, collapsing back into her swivel chair-"I was fighting a rebel, right? I was very close to my Diamond, only about, what? 20 feet or so? And so I heard this shuffling noise from behind me. I'd just struck this rebel down, and so I turned around. I saw Rose, with lots of curly hair and the biggest sword I have ever seen, go sprinting towards my Diamond. She swung her sword at Pink…"-here she let out a sigh-"and Pink fell down. I didn't see my Diamond get up. I suppose she did…her remains weren't found near the palanquin. I…I had to fight that rebel. I didn't see anything besides that." Rhedicax sighed again, muttering an antiquated Gem curse.

"Right, right," said Zircon. With that out of the way, now Zircon could discover what she really wanted to know. Zircon scrolled up to the beginning of Rhedicax's testimony.

"So…you fought with a Rebellion soldier. Could you over the events of that day?" asked Zircon, summoning a hologram on which to transcribe notes.

"Right…" the Rhedicax hooked two fingers behind her lip, and tilted her head away. It took a few moments for her to recall that day, so many years ago.

"We were at the Base, far from the Beta Kindergarten, near one of the poles. Pink Diamond and we, her retinue, had warped there. Nothing happened that morning…I stood by the side of her palanquin within the Base, all morning long. Then a visitor came."

"Can you describe this visitor?" asked Zircon, hoping she did not sound desperate. This visitor may have been a Diamond, or some other important figure, important enough that Pink Diamond and her retinue would leave the safety of the base, to venture outside, and then actually stop her palanquin and leave its safety. Though the area where Pink Diamond had been shattered was believed to be safe, Zircon did not think a Diamond, especially Pink, would take such a risk on enemy territory.

"Not really. Looked like they wore a sheet over their head. The thing was black, and long. It trailed on the floor, couldn't peek underneath. N-Not that I'd ever think of peeking underneath, of course-"

"How tall would you say this visitor was?" asked Zircon.

"Only a little smaller than Pink Diamond," said Rhedicax, crossing one leg over the other, face still solemn.

"So," said Zircon, scrolling through Rhedicax's testimony. "So, so, so…" After a second, Blue Zircon asked her second question: "Let me skip to after you all beat back the rebels."

"Right."

"It says in your testimony that you felt like-"

"'Some Gem drove a red-hot pickaxe into the base of my skull', right? Yeah. That's how it felt. My men and I were running up the ridge to our Diamond, and there was this…pink flood." Rhedicax waved her hand in front of her face. "I could just see pink for a second, and then came _pain_. I must have passed out."

Blue Zircon finished scribbling down the Rhedicax's testimony. While helpful, it seemed the Captain was too far to really get a good gander at 'Rose', who struck Pink Diamond. The information on the pink flash was helpful, though…

"From your expression, you must not be finding me very helpful right now! That _huuuurts_ my feelings, you know?"

Blue Zircon's head shot up, startled at the sudden exaggeration of her speech, to rapidly deny Rhedicax's words. As Zircon protested, she laughed and pressed forward: "Who assigned this case to you?"

"Well, I was-" Blue Zircon stopped slowly, drawing her last word out as she exhaled. After a moment, she realized what had happened; wrinkles appeared around Zircon's nose. "The Ambers of the Court Coordinator's Office assigned me to this job." It wasn't quite a lie-an Amber _had_ filled out the form of assignment…under Blue Diamond's orders, of course.

Blue Zircon flushed, starting to grow angry. The Rhedicax took her questions to the table now. She jerked her chin at the files Blue Zircon still had displayed on her holograms. "How'd you get those?"

Resisting the urge to withdraw the files into her monocle, Blue Zircon attempted to parry the Captain's verbal lunges. "These came from the Court Coordinator's Office, of course. Why, do you think I stole them?"

Rhedicax executed her riposte: "Of course not. Only a cracked Gem would think of stealing files from the Court Coordinator's Office. But why _you_ , on this very important case? You're certainly not a first pick of mine-I've never heard of you before."

"So, there's something going on that I'm not aware of. And if I'm not aware of something, then the Diamonds aren't either!" Rhedicax smacked her hands on the table.

Blue Zircon sat still in her seat, internally flinching, but externally frowning. "You have a very high opinion of yourself."

Rhedicax looked at Blue Zircon with disdain. "I am the Chief of the bodyguards. I have to see all threats before they come, otherwise some harm'll befall them…again."

Blue Zircon raced for a reply, thoughts scattered by Rhedicax's glare. Fumbling around, she chose her knee-jerk reaction to the Rhedicax's words. "That didn't seem to help Pink Diamond, did it?"

Rhedicax's scowl drooped into a flat expression. Her left hand rocketed into the air, abruptly stopping at chest height. Her hand jerkily settled on her cheek, slowly sliding off. She took in a deep breath, letting her head loll up toward the ceiling, and let it out, letting her face become calm.

Blue Zircon watched her carefully through her outburst. She had hit a soft spot, one which she honestly would rather not have disturbed. She wished that she had chosen a different wording, other than the first words that popped into her head, like back in the courtroom.

Rhedicax did not lower her head. "We're done here. I am going to inform the Diamonds of your investigations, and those of that Yellow Zircon, during my next debriefing in about three hours." Rhedicax waved her hand at Blue Zircon with a flick of her wrist. "Leave me now, so I can remember all my past failures in silence."

"Er…I didn't really mean to prod old wounds-" began Blue Zircon, hesitantly getting up from her chair.

"Just get going," said Rhedicax, kicking her desk half-heartedly.

Blue Zircon withdrew in silence, shutting the door. Outside, she rearranged her list of witnesses to interview. She still had a great many to interview, and files to check out from the library. Though the Captain had said her activities would be reported, Blue Zircon promised herself she would not worry that much. She had not given her Diamond away to her fellow matriarchs-a fact she planned to use when requesting the sigil she needed.

Zircon traveled up the nearest set of steps to Blue Diamond's chambers, drawing up a detailed plan of attack. She would lay everything bare before her Diamond-perhaps Blue Diamond knew why Pink Diamond had travelled to Earth. At any rate, she should be the first Diamond to coax a full story out of.


	8. Research, Part One

Blue Zircon re-entered the calm blue hall. The soft blue lights had not been switched on; the brilliant white light continued to shine down, giving the impression that the room had not changed at all. This time, however, many guards loomed at the hall's end, near the door that led into the personal chambers. Blue Zircon swept her eyes over the assembled soldiers. Most of them were the standard Era Two bodyguards-Agates and the like. Here and there, dotted within the group lurked Era One Gems.

Blue Zircon approached the nearest Agate and said: "Excuse me. I'd like to know if Blue Diamond has recovered enough for me to have an audience. It's very important that I see her!"

The Agate thought for a moment, then spoke: "It's very important, huh?"

"Yes!" insisted Blue Zircon.

"Well, then, I definitely don't wanna know about it," the Agate shrugged. "I guess…we've been expecting you? We _were_ told that someone fitting your description would show up. So go ahead and go on in. Pearl is ready to announce you."

Blue Zircon thanked the Agate, who nodded cheerily, then proceeded to open the door and enter the chamber. As she did so, Blue Pearl announced demurely, "My Diamond, Blue Zircon would like to ask you for a sigil."

Blue Zircon sputtered out "Gah!". Before this moment, she imagined several scenarios of their conversation. First, if she was allowed to speak, she would say sorry for springing her accusation on the Diamonds so suddenly, and assure Blue Diamond that she had reasons for thinking the way she did. If she was permitted to continue, Zircon would expand upon her reasoning, and request the sigil if Blue Diamond seemed likely to grant such a request. Hopefully, Zircon could coax out the necessary bits of information she wanted to know. Even if the true culprit was discovered, Zircon still would need to know the motive. In her experience, criminals very rarely volunteered this information.

If Zircon was less lucky, she would be lectured and reprimanded, maybe threatened, by Her Diamond. Zircon did not expect Blue Diamond to bar her from the case fully-the Pearl had said Blue Diamond had forgiven her, and at the Trial, Blue Diamond looked more shocked than angry.

Any way Zircon imagined their little talk, she had not anticipated that Blue Pearl would announce her arrival thus. It derailed her intended talking point order.

Zircon acted immediately to salvage the situation. "M-my Diamond! While that is true, there is a very good reason why I want that! I…" Blue Zircon began to explain carefully.

Blue Diamond did not seem to be listening. She slouched upon her throne, leaning against a column that her throne had been pushed up against. She interrupted, "You want a sigil? A symbol of my power? What for?" She lowered her head a little. "Don't you have enough evidence already to find the killer?"

"I…I don't have enough evidence for that yet, My Diamond…" Blue Zircon said.

"But still you made the allegation!" said Blue Diamond, showing her annoyance.

"T-that was a spur-of-the-moment statement made from logical analysis of facts that I didn't look over that well! I don't know which of the Diamonds shattered her, I just know that no other Gem could have done it!" Realizing her opportunity, she hastily added, "That's why I need the sigil!"

"Well…we can discuss that sigil!" said Blue Diamond, raising a hand to her temple. "I need to know exactly why. All the details." She paused, then, remembering her original words before being sidetracked by the sigil business, added: "But! You've already made a very serious allegation against the Diamonds. So act like a discoverer of the truth! Take yourself and your role seriously. Back proud, Gem out."

Thus reprimanded, Blue Zircon inhaled deeply, and enclosed the air into her physical form. Holding it there for some seconds, she let it go, and clapped her hands together.

"Good," said Blue Diamond approvingly. "Now…about that sigil?" As she spoke, she seemed to lose the vitality in her voice. "I cannot just go around giving out symbols of my power. Anyone who sees these will know that I was involved. And I do not want the rest of the Diamonds to know that I had my doubts about the investigation report Yellow sent to all of us."

Blue Zircon resisted the urge to seize a hologram and scribble frantically. Pocketing those words for further usage, Zircon eased her Diamond into continuing. "Were there any discrepancies in that report, or…"

Blue Diamond's eyes took a journey over her chamber, before settling on a point just beyond Blue Zircon's face. "…I just _knew_ that something was not right. At that time, I believed that I indirectly caused Pink Diamond's death…" She closed her eyes.

Zircon opened her mouth to speak; blue fuzz appeared at the corner of her eyes, causing water to trickle out. The sensation of impending grief disoriented her enough to close the window of opportunity. Blue Diamond regained some of her composure. But Blue Zircon was not done with this alley yet. She resolved to coax more out…as soon as she could get her mitts on that sigil.

"Why, then, do you need my sigil? Your powers as a defender should cover all witnesses well enough." Blue Diamond relaxed her body weight into her wrist, squashing her cheek against the blue fabric. It looked rather ridiculous, to see the Diamond mush her cheek against her sleeve, but Blue Zircon did not dare even allude to it.

"My Diamond, I would like to study the background when the murder of Pink Diamond occurred, and I would like to access the battle plans used in that time period," began Blue Diamond.

"Military intelligence?" queried Blue Diamond.

"Err…yes, My Diamond, but that's military intelligence in the _past_! Not of today. I'll leave those alone," she stammered. Clearing her throat, she wrapped up her request, "There are also a few books in particular I'd like to check out- _A History of the Rebellion_ , by Onyx NX765, and _The Selected Writings of Pink Diamond_."

" _The Selected Writings of Pink Diamond_...if you will being combing through her battle plans and journals, then why would you need to check out this book?" asked Blue Diamond.

"I'd like to cross-reference them, My Diamond…" said Blue Zircon.

"Do you really need all of Pink Diamond's journals?" asked Blue Diamond.

Blue Zircon insisted she did. Blue Diamond made a small, soft noise, and murmured something to herself. Blue Zircon ventured to say, "Do you not want me to read those journals, My Diamond…?"

Blue Diamond exhaled, but did not respond immediately. "I will not give you any sigil of mine. I do not believe you need it at the moment. Currently, you want to access classified, hidden documents in the Royal Archives. That can be arranged. And…if any of my fellow Diamonds should discover you have this, they will know instantly that I have been dealing behind their backs. After you accused us of shattering one of own like that in the Trial, it is more important than ever that the other Diamonds do not discover my involvement in your assignment."

Blue Diamond sighed. "When you finish researching Pink Diamond, come and tell me whatever you have deduced. I have read all of those papers she wrote already. _I_ was the one who ordered them preserved-Yellow Diamond wanted to destroy all of them. White Diamond agreed to preserve them in her Library. My Gems do not have the expertise to preserve them in their original state…"

Blue Diamond laughed without humor. "Going through Pink Diamond's journals, I'm sure that you will see she disliked me so much. I wonder what she would think of me, having all her things. Her Earth, her humans, her Quartzes…all those old Era Ones who served under her…I'm sure she would have hated it."

"I'm certain that's not true, My Diamond…" Blue Zircon said, trying to soothe her.

"No." countered Blue Diamond, hands fluttering towards her mouth. "When the Rebellion happened, I set up my court, to defuse the rebellion before it started."

"That makes sense…" said Blue Zircon, uncertain of how to respond.

"No!" Blue Diamond shook her head. "Pink Diamond was a military leader! _Our_ military leader! She knew how to negotiate, but this time…" Blue Diamond took in a deep breath, then began again: "She could be so sweet…and I never tried to explain my actions. I thought she would understand… Those Rose Quartzes that _she_ made, as her special contribution to Homeworld's might, required a more delicate approach. Rose Quartz couldn't be bowed by threats. I…I thought she'd understand… Pink Diamond, she thought that we disapproved of her handling of her colony, and that I wanted to seize it from her…" Blue Diamond squeezed her temples with her fingers, grimacing.

"That wasn't true, of course!" Blue Zircon held out her palms toward her Diamond, hoping that once she started talking, she would be encouraged to continue.

Blue Diamond's face seemed to twist. The right eye twitched, as her mouth on that side darted upwards, like in a smile. Blue Diamond wrinkled her nose, as her eyes fluttered. Inside the eyes, behind the irises, fluid collected in the eyeballs, slowly leaking out onto her face, down her chin, onto the floor. A pulse of light blue fuzzed around Blue Zircon's eyes, wetting them.

"Not quite…" Blue Diamond admitted slowly. She burst out suddenly, "You see?! That's why I…I have to preserve her memory! All of her things, especially that Earth! I **failed** as a leader, like I am failing now…"

"I never wrestled with her when she was in a good mood and I never listened when she wanted to tell me her problems, her doubts-! I always ignored her, because she'd gotten wounded in that war, and went berserk when rattled-" She slammed down her fists on her throne. "Even then, I would never have wanted her to DIE!"

Blue Diamond stopped. She seemed to deflate then, uncurling her fingers, letting her hands fall onto her lap. Once she was calmer, she spoke: "Blue Zircon. When you have finished your investigation, please return these keys to me. These will allow you to pass undeterred in the library." On cue, Blue Pearl presented her with a massive set of intricately carved keys, all unique, carved with letters and numbers. "You are dismissed."

Blue Zircon thanked her Diamond, and left hurriedly.

Zircon only went a few feet away from the antechamber, stopping by the guards. No noises emanated from the chamber; the guards hurried her along.

White Diamond headed the bureaucracy of Homeworld. Here, numerous data was gathered from the surroundings, and processed in computers situated in the bureaucracy. Her area also included the most important library on Homeworld; every book or recording had a copy, stored in the Royal Archives. Anything could be found there; White Diamond was neurotic about having a record of everything important that occurred. White Diamond had a more personal connection to her Bureau; the main buildings were embedded in the torso of a massive building White Diamond had constructed in her likeness. The offices honeycombed her chest lower body, and other, less essential Bureau functions riddled her upper arms and legs. The head, shoulders and neck, lower arms and legs had not been tunneled into, for stability. Numerous Veins spread across her form, connecting her bureau to the other areas of Homeworld that were nearby.

White Diamond had built the structure personally, from a combination of stone and holograms produced from her own body. Loosening her own physical form, she could travel through the building's walls, like one would swim through water, and if necessary, could take residence in the building and move it like it was her own body. White Diamond's office resided in the head; the space was massive, to accommodate White Diamond's large form. Somehow, she had fallen into the habit of regenerating into larger and larger forms, and often the narrow halls of Homeworld could not lodge her.

The halls of White Diamond's Bureau bustled with activity, unlike the empty, quiet halls of the courts. The floors were divided into lanes, which writing indicating where each led to. All lanes brimmed with Gems holding papers, briefcases, or otherwise transporting cargo. There was no opportunity to breathe, to collect one's wits, and think about where to go. The busy dwellers of the Bureau shoved Blue Zircon, forcing her to keep up with their pace.

It was in this way Blue Zircon became lost several times, finally ending up in the Laboratories, near the ankles of the building, lurking meekly by a massive centrifugation machine. There, a stray Gem took pity on Zircon, and wrote down the routes to the Royal Archives on a corner of a hologram. Zircon, having been sidetracked numerous times, eventually reached the lobby of the library.

She crested the stairs, and turned right, through a very short hallway, at the end of which lay a large counter. Numerous Ambers sat behind the long wafer-like counter, checking out and receiving books. Blue Zircon hesitated as she entered, then retreated away from the counters, to sit at a wafer-textured bench some feet away, hidden from the Ambers' sight.

Busying herself with a hologram upon which nothing important was transcribed, Blue Zircon wondered where exactly the classified documents were kept. Blue Zircon had never been to this library before, only to the Law Libraries at the courtroom. Those were a joint venture between Blue and White Diamond…perhaps this library was constructed the same way? The lobbies were indeed similar.

Blue Zircon groaned as she got up from her seat. If she had the sigil, she could have just shown it to the Ambers at the front desk, and been able to go in unquestioned.

Blue Zircon took a moment to straighten herself out, then strode in as confidently as she could. Walking towards the far left side of the counter, she approached the swinging door leading behind the counter. As she did so, she drew out her keys, and fiddled with them. She had absolutely no idea which key went for what door (realizing too late she should have asked one of the guards before leaving).

The closest Amber stared at her as Zircon shoved open the door, still messing with the keys. The Amber watched as Blue Zircon strode past her, to the middle of the area, still messing with those keys. The Amber sighed. Someone was always getting lost. Always. No matter how many signs were put up, no matter how many maps were displayed at the front, the Ambers still found stray Zircons wandering around. The Amber glanced at her keys. "Err…" the Amber thought for a moment, then decided that she did not want to know. She turned her back, and whispered to the Amber next to her, "Another one of those big-shot Zircons is messin' around in the back again."

The lemon yellow Amber next to her twittered. "Just wait until she gets _lost_. Then she'll have to ask us for help." The two shared a little laugh. Still, both glanced behind themselves. In the interest of efficiency, lost Gems should be directed to their intended destinations at once; in addition, the Ambers truly did not mean anything by their jokes about lost Gems. A long day of checking out and in books often got boring. The Amber felt happy though, when the Zircon managed to find her door quickly enough. She stopped at the door to the classified materials, and went in.

Behind the door, Blue Zircon let out a long sigh. She was surprised that no Gem stopped her at all. The Ambers behind her had glanced at her often, but not a one said anything. Blue Zircon scanned the hall lined with doorways leading to all different sorts of classified collections, beginning with the Gem Race's Genesis, their culture at that time, and so on…Blue Zircon froze at "The First Great Gem War". Béhierite sat at one of the glossy reading desks, taking notes on a hologram from a massive book titled "The Culture of the Parasites". Blue Zircon vaguely remembered from history class the first race the Gems conquered were the Parasites, an alien race who had stomachs like leaky fuel cells; they had to eat materials four-five times a day, or drop dead within hours.

Béhierite glanced up from her hologram at Blue Zircon, making the latter squirm. "If you want the book, I'll be done in…" Béhierite glanced at a massive poster on the wall (" **Books may be possessed for 15 minutes if there is a line** ") then said, "…15 minutes." With that, she returned to her dense read.

"Err…yes. Right." Blue Zircon continued to walk down the hallway, towards an Arch with the nameplate, "Lives of the Gem Matriarchs". A very light blue force field stretched in front of the arch; a scanning area sat just below Blue Zircon's line of sight. Normally, if a Gem was given permission to access classified documents, a passcode would also be given…but all Blue Zircon had was her keys. Blue Zircon brushed aside the keys to bare the Diamond's Symbol pressed into the metal. Hopefully, this would be good enough to gain entry.

It was. The force field glowed blue, and half-seen swirls formed on its surface as the force field fluid became viscous. Blue Zircon passed through, and immediately began to hunt for her first book: _The Selected Writings of Pink Diamond_.

The book was a long, green affair, with a pink clasp, styled like a diamond. Blue Zircon claimed a seat at one of the benches spread through this area, and unclasped the book. She scanned through the table of contents. The first five chapters were mostly concerned with the speeches Pink Diamond gave through the many wars of conquest the Gems fought. The next five were joint speeches given with her other Diamonds. Zircon skipped all of these, finally finding locating the writings at the time of the rebellion. Blue Zircon flipped to a description of Pink Diamond, given by a nearby Agate, as she fought the Rebels.

The passage was long and dense; for every word Blue Zircon could read, there were many she was uncertain of and very few she truly did not know. The gist of the passage was thus: Pink Diamond was awesome. Apparently, with every intake of breath, the Rebels screamed and with every step of foot and pound of fist, thousands of Rebellion soldiers fell.

…Blue Zircon lifted her head from the text and massaged her temples. Flipping the page, she read the next account…the author of which was similarly inclined as the first. Groaning, Blue Zircon moved to the next. And the next. Blue Zircon's skimming eventually paid off: she managed to find a more objective account by an Era One Aquamarine, lent to Pink Diamond's court in the days before the Rebellion officially began.

 _I have arrived here, at this colony, the only one possessed by she who is unparalleled in brute force, Pink Diamond. It has impressed upon me that this colony has not been chosen for its beauty. The land is sometimes flat, sometimes jagged, and mostly covered by liquid water. The colors of this land vary widely, and the dirt is often locked away by carboniferous lifeforms. These lifeforms cannot, it seems, flee when hurt. I have torn several apart with mine own hands, and no retribution was taken._

 _On the other hand, motile carboniferous lifeforms exist as well. Their colors vary widely, and they are bipedal like us. These creatures cannot run too fast, nor fight back with any real force. This brings me to my first real encounter with these newfangled Rose Quartzes. I had located a creature of the kind described above, and I seized it with one of my limbs. The creature consisted of many smaller organisms, all working together to maintain its existence. I needed to apply only a little pressure before the organisms were crushed and died. The creature, unlike the others dotting the landscape, emitted a loud noise, and attempted to flee my grasp._

 _I was not so weak; no creature can escape my grasp. Unless it is freed, which this one was. Attracted by the loud noise (a call for help perhaps?) a Rose Quartz arrived. She demanded I release the creature, which I did. I am not interested in offending my new liege by battling one of her own creations. On the subject of Rose Quartzes, I do not see anything to love in particular. They are bulky, and large, with a love for needless fashion and garish hair. I see no reason for either of these in a Gem under Pink Diamond. Apparently, this Rose Quartz did not realize she spoke to someone far better than herself._

 _I brought this incident up with Pink Diamond herself, as I glimpsed her passing by. I have heard of her famed openness and willingness to interact with her subjects (probably because all of them will die the next day during a war). I decided to test out this rumor. It was true, but not in the way I wished. My Liege listened to my complaint, and laughed. She playfully reprimanded me for picking a fight with one of her precious creations, and made jest of the fact that I could easily destroy any of those blasted Quartzes. I don't understand what makes my Liege unwilling to ravage this land to gain access to the minerals underneath. Apparently, it amuses her to see the Earth lifeforms scuttling about. I just don't know._

The next selection caught Blue Zircon's eye. She decided to read on to the next passage, a log entry written by a Pre-Era One, Genesis Peridot, about the first Kindergarten on the Earth.

 _Kindergarten Prime: the most beautiful piece of work ever seen. Neat rows. Wonderful location. Strong silhouettes, no exit angles. For each Gem type, all regulations have been followed. Should produce some of the best Gems ever seen._

 _On the new Gem type, Rose Quartzes: much to admire. Fashionable like Blue Court. Logical like Yellow. Practical like White. An all- round good fighter. In my opinion, better suited for support roles, not out-and-out combat roles._

At the end of the passage, a little note had been hastily scribbled in.

 _Pink Diamond_ _ **touched**_ _me today. I showed her my analysis of her Kindergartens, even the flaws there weren't many I thought she'd go nuts like in the first gem war but she praised me and told me I did a good job. Me! Then she patted my head. It feels so good to be recognized. She said I could stay with her contingent instead of going back to my Homeworld contingent of newbie Era One Peridots_

The scribble ended. Blue Zircon stared at it for a little while, then turned the page, and continued to read.

Through all the passages Blue Zircon read about Pink Diamond, a reference often made by the writers, especially Era One or older Gems, began to occur again and again. A reference to the first Gem war, always mentioned whenever Pink Diamond did something on the battlefield. Had something happened to Pink Diamond there…? It was worth investigating. Blue Zircon made a note.

Continuing through the book, Blue Zircon couldn't help but be disappointed. Most passages consisted of Pink Diamond's speeches, or other Gems writing about Pink Diamond. Many of the passages were glowing testaments to Pink Diamond's character, or otherwise implied she could do no wrong.

"That's a bad title," Blue Zircon groused as she replaced the book. Proceeding to Pink Diamond's actual written works, Blue Zircon was disappointed again. There was a through preservation of every word Pink Diamond had written down, mainly in the form of log reports.

Pink Diamond's log reports were short and to the point. There were no excess words bandied about; just statements. Even still, these short bursts of words and speech were no waste of time to read.

 _Stardate XXXX: Identified suitable colony. Attended social event. Blue wants better outfit for me. Never._

 _Stardate XXXXX: Troops moved. Engaging enemy._

 _Stardate XXXX: Enemy retreat. Yay._

 _Stardate XXXXX: Lost my temper. Did not destroy anything-improvement._

 _Stardate XXXX: Discussed traitorous Gem type. Not like_ _ **they**_ _ever made a Gem with no flaws._

 _Stardate XXXX: Left colony today. Blue going. Blasted idiot._

…Blue Zircon often found herself wishing Pink Diamond had written down details. However, Blue Zircon found what she was looking for: Of the reports written during the Rebellion, none stood out more than this one, written only a few days before Pink Diamond's shattering:

 _Stardate XXXX: Meet with her. After Beta, at that base._

The stardate matched. So did the words "Beta" and "base". Obviously, Beta was the second Kindergarten made to supply Homeworld with badly needed soldiers. The base referred to that same place where Pink Diamond traveled to after checking up on the Beta Kindergarten, where she left her palanquin, and was killed. "her"…meant the visitor, the one for whom Pink Diamond left the safety of her palanquin. Unfortunately, Pink Diamond had written down no clues to whom "she" could be. Blue Zircon recorded down the log, laying her hologram onto the book, and sliding her hand across, recording a perfect copy.

Blue Zircon returned the log books to their respective places, and the book to its respective place. She had learned some good information about Pink Diamond, and now, needed to know more. Before that, however, Blue Zircon wanted to follow up on that strange reference made, the reference to the first Great War. Those writings had been collected before the time of the Rebellion, so those writers could have been referring to only one war: the Gem War with the Parasites.


	9. Research, Part Two

If one would enter the Library of White Diamond, travel beyond the receptionist desk and through a certain arch beyond a certain door, one might find a special book, a one-of-a-kind book. This book would be different from all the rest contained in that room; a perspective hidden to Gemkind. That book tells a story, the story of the Parasites.

Years after Gem Genesis, the Matriarchs Four ruled over all of Gemkind. The Gems expanded at a slow pace-none of them saw a need for rushing. The universe could be explored at their leisure. The Genesis Gems handled other worlds they encountered with velvet gloves; they could afford to. New creatures were catalogued, and those new worlds explored up and down to the minutia. The Genesis Gems delighted in their existence. Knowledge piled up in Homeworld's Libraries, and artists preoccupied themselves with creating songs and art.

All of this wonder was possible because Genesis Gems had the great fortune to come into being in the Australia of their galaxy. That sector harbored no other life besides them, and all the heavenly bodies existed as stars, emitting light which the Genesis Gems could harness to sustain themselves.

This good fortune often did not extend to many of the millions of races throughout the universe. Another race, light-years away in a neighboring galaxy, came into being in the midst of already powerful alien races, snuggled away on a planet often overlooked by everyone. These, the Progenitors of the Parasites, stretched only 5 feet long, and stood barely a couple of feet tall. Many colorful streamers and fibers adorned their exteriors. The Progenitors scampered along on their planet on all fours; most possessed organs of flesh and metal interspersed, giving them the ability to insert new genes into their genome at will. Some among them possessed soft outer covers, giving them a fuzzy outer coat.

For a time, this race acted much like the Gems. However, as these starry compound-eyed aliens set out to explore the galaxy, they encountered their unfriendly neighbors. By the best of luck, their neighbors destroyed their ships without any thought. The Progenitors remained undetected.

And with this encounter, the progenitors of the Parasites realized their race paled in comparison to the others lurking out in their galaxy. They had been in an evolutionary arms race since their birth, against the rest of their galaxy, and they had already lost. The consequences of their loss were simply yet to be felt.

For a time, the entire race despaired, but their minds slowly overcame their fear. None of the other hostile alien races had realized their existence on this hidden planet. Before those Progenitors could be annihilated, they resolved to change their fate, to escape their galaxy and make a new life, far away.

Among the many conversations and arguments about what could be done emerged the idea their race would need to become more powerful to escape from their home galaxy. Around them, five different, hostile, alien races fought with each other for the last bits of free space in their galaxy. The war had been going on for so long, the only thing that mattered to their enemies was defeating the other four. Hopefully, the Progenitors could slip away, but if the enemy chanced to see them…the Progenitors needed to be able to fend off their enemies for long enough to escape. A set of traits their race would need to have was drawn up. Amongst these included the ability to metabolize anything that energy could be extracted from.

A very vague idea, which none of them could decide on how exactly to implement. The Progenitors' main energy source were sugars, which were abundant on their planet. Where else could energy come from? Carbohydrates such as galactose, maltose-the chemical reactions to break these down would emit a great deal of energy. Lipids-fats, oils, etc; provided a more minor source of energy. Combustion-burning material would release energy in the form of heat. This heat could drive machinery to produce electricity. As their starting place, enzymes to break down every kind of lipid and carbohydrate known to them were synthesized and inserted into their population. With the ability to break down many materials on their planet, the inhabitants began to eat their planet to become stronger. Eventually, the Progenitors accumulated enough enzymes to be able to synthesize their flesh from almost any source of energy, excepting photons and radiation.

Such enzymes and combustion chambers necessitated a change in their body structure, so the dangerous processes in their stomachs would not destroy _them_. Their soft exteriors were discarded; most of their organic flesh was swapped out for metal alloy scaffolding, capable of withstanding their powerful digestive enzymes. One effect that no one took any notice of was a larger appetite. The sight of something digestible set their thoughts in a tizzy.

But at any rate, the first transformations were complete, and the Progenitors believed themselves capable of wrassling with their powerful neighbors. The necessary ships were constructed quickly, and soon all of their race set out to escape their galaxy. 100 light years from the galaxy's outer reaches, they were spotted.

These aliens, Sun-Eaters, mainly derived their energy from light, and combustion of organic material. Concerning weapons, their specialty was incredibly hot blue and white fire. Immediately upon sighting the new race fleeing the galaxy, the Sun-Eaters engaged them. The first few wars, the Sun-Eaters roasted them with blue and white sunfire, destroying countless Progenitors. Those who survived scavenged the best traits from those they bested, and added those they could to themselves.

Over the course of this process, the Progenitors became Parasites-patchwork creatures, for whom survival was paramount. Finally, the effects of this excessive, reckless modification made themselves known. An irresistible hunger grew among them, from being resistible to thought-consuming. At the sight of something digestible, the Progenitors could not resist destroying and eating it. The many traits they stole from all the other races demanded energy for their upkeep. This energy came from destroying other races, from whom they would plunder.

Instead of fleeing the galaxy as originally planned, those Parasites who became berserk with hunger shot further into the galaxy, towards the Sun-Eaters' home world. After one alien race fell, all four collapsed, with varying difficulty. The last race of this galaxy struggled valiantly, but soon they too were absorbed into the hive mind of the Parasites. So crippled were the Parasites from endless battles and plunder, it took many years for their population to rebound.

A race like the Parasites' knew no bounds. Soon their galaxy was devoid of any materials that could be used to feed their hungry bellies, and the hungriest among them tore into their fellow Parasites, scavenging them for materials. Those who could still reason, in a fashion, decided to migrate to the next galaxy. Within this new galaxy, the Gems' galaxy, the first races to meet the Parasites fell easily.

Upon the first meeting of the Gems and the Parasites, the Gems seemed to be an ideal prey race. Their forms, made of light, were choice energy sources for a race perpetually running on fumes. The forms of these first unfortunate Gems were slurped up, their Gem intact. Under the guidance of those who could reason, the Parasites captured all Gems they met. Whenever those unfortunates regenerated, their forms would be slurped up instantly. Other Gems were assimilated, so their ability to synthesize light could be used for the Parasites.

However, the Gems proved to be more tricksy than they could have predicted. This hostile race first came to the attention of Blue Diamond, who correctly foresaw diplomacy would fail. Not only did the Parasites have no interest in sparing the Gems, most of the Parasites had no reasoning faculties left.

Blue Diamond alerted the rest of the Diamonds, and steps were taken to combat the threat. Shields and domes were fashioned of unstable heavy metals. These heavy metals yielded no energy when broken down, only radiation. If the Parasites managed to split the atom in two in an attempt to digest it, a massive explosion would result, destroying all Parasites near that one. Magnetic force fields were erected around population centers. The Parasites could not digest magnetism, and a powerful enough field attracted the metal parts, rendering the metal from the flesh, destroying the Parasite.

The war dragged on. The Gems were forced to escalate the war, eventually destroying their colonies to most efficiently use whatever materials were there. Of the four Diamonds, Pink and White fought on the battlefield directly. Yellow provided reinforcements and bombardment of the enemy with light cannons. Blue Diamond ruled Homeworld alone, watching as Yellow and Pink Diamond collaborated to destroy their enemies.

The Parasites took heavy losses, becoming deprived of any efficient food source. Desperate, finally they coagulated together into a giant mass, to take the Gems' Homeworld in an all-out attack. On that plain before Homeworld, White Diamond pierced the monstrosity's hide with numerous metal weapons, weakening the creature and pinning it a distance away from Homeworld. Yellow Diamond reduced its defenses further via bombardment with metal chunks, radiation cannons and light beams.

On that plain, Pink Diamond rushed out to meet the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The fight lasted for a while, until Pink Diamond froze and tore into her enemy, ripping out chunks of flesh, slashing huge gashes into the creature's hide, and tearing the individual creatures apart. Pink Diamond killed most of the enemy in a frenzy, stepping on them and crushing them, until she collapsed in a pile. The Parasite host had not eaten in too long, and its scattered parts began to die. Blue Diamond led the foot soldiers, capturing whatever enemies still lived and rescuing the Gems whom the Parasites had taken prisoner.

* * *

Blue Zircon poked her nose inquisitively past the arch that sectioned off "The First Great Gem War". She could only assume whomever placed the blue letters on the arch meant the Parasite War. Blue Zircon entered the room slowly, peering at all the books lined up neatly on the shelves. Béhierite sat at the table still, poring over her book. Zircon walked over to a shelf that had half its books removed. She read the titles out, under her breath: "'Lack of Genetic Diversity Among the Parasite Race and How This Worked in the Gem Race's Favor', 'Composition of Parasite Enzymes'…"

From behind her, something dry slid across something rough, producing a gentle scraping noise. Someone breathed behind her; Blue Zircon twisted her head around. Béhierite crooked her head over her shoulder and watched her with a calm expression.

"Bored?"

"…er, what?" stammered Blue Zircon, wondering why the older Gem was here.

"You don't seem to be searching for anything in particular. I don't believe I've ever seen you here, either." Béhierite said, swiveling her body around in the chair, to a more comfortable position.

Blue Zircon did not relish an encounter, especially with a Gem who had previously shown interest in her job. She asked cautiously, "Do…you come here often?"

"Indeed I do," confirmed Béhierite. " _Is_ there anything in particular that you seek?"

"Er...Yes, I am searching for a particular book." Blue Zircon paused, then straightened her posture. "I am not allowed to discuss the matter with anyone else, though. It's classified." She waved her right hand up and down, punctuating her words for emphasis.

"I see. Well, I didn't ask for any files of the case…" Béhierite lifted herself from her chair, placing one hand on the desk, and another on the chair seat. With a huff, she righted herself into a standing position. "If you are not allowed to talk, then allow me to guess. You're obviously searching for some material on the First War. Perhaps…is My Diamond having you defend one of them?"

"Of course not! I-" Blue Zircon began, but Béhierite advanced on her excitedly.

"If that's the case, I can help-" she began.

" **No!** " burst out Blue Zircon, stopping Béhierite's advance with her hands. Zircon held her at an arm's length, preventing her from coming any closer. The excitement hovering around Béhierite's face was unexpected from the usually mellow Gem; furthermore, Blue Zircon wanted to find some reference books as quickly as possible, to confirm whether her avenues of thought had any outlet, or were just a dead end.

Béhierite made circling motions with her hands, and broke Blue Zircon's hold on her shoulders. Calmer now, she backed away. "Apologies. I can get very excited whenever I get the chance to aid My Diamond."

"I can see that!" snapped Blue Zircon, still alert.

Catching her biting tone, Béhierite withdrew further. "I think…I'll just…be over here." She gestured at the opposite bookshelf.

"And just what are you going to do over there?" asked Blue Zircon, still indignant.

"Research for a case," murmured Béhierite, turning her back to Zircon, running the tip of her first finger over the spines.

Blue Zircon watched suspiciously from a distance, and decided to hazard a question. "Do Parasites _still_ exist even now? I would think that without a steady energy source, they'd all die out within a few years of their defeat."

Béhierite hummed, rubbing her lips against each other. Bending, she scanned the spines of the books. "A few have been kept alive for the past several thousand years. They are provided with enough sustenance to keep them alive, but permanently weak." Catching Zircon's face as she turned around, she added: "Don't look so surprised. If these Parasites were set loose into the galaxy, they would inevitably come to power again, and destroy the galaxy in their perpetual quest to fill their stomachs."

Rising, Béhierite cradled a massive book in her arms. Its title was embellished with gold, and glittered against the forest green cover: "On the Lives of the Parasites, by Furred Exoskeleton with Red Horns"

"What kind of a name is _that?"_ scowled Blue Zircon, craning her head at the book.

Béhierite tilted the cover up to get a better look, then answered: "Yes, well, this 'Furred Exoskeleton with Red Horns' describes the author. You see, Parasites have lost whatever methods once existed of picking one Parasite apart from the other. They are all of a connected mind; it's why all five Parasites still in existence are kept separate from each other at all times." Béhierite sighed. "I represent this particular Parasite. We are bargaining with Yellow Diamond to see if she will allow my client more than five minutes outside of her prison."

"Good luck with that," Blue Zircon scoffed.

Béhierite raised her eyebrows without the associated emotion. "You'd be surprised by how reasonable Yellow Diamond is."

"I certainly would be," muttered Blue Zircon, remembering the Trial.

"Anyhow, if you'd like a different view of the First Gem War, I would highly recommend reading this book. You see,"-she trailed her finger in the air, in a circle-"all these books are written by Gems. This is the only one written by a Parasite. Apparently, my client has regained the finer functions of the mind after so long on a…shall I say… _leaner_ …diet."

Béhierite placed the book down on the desk with a muffled thud. After a moment of fiddling with the buttons on the cuffs on her ribboned sleeves, she took in a quick breath and said, in a rush of words: "C-could you tell My Diamond something, from me, when you next see her?"

"That depends on what you want me to say," said Blue Zircon, rubbing out the dampness from under her monocle. She bent her head down a little, trying to catch a better look at the elder Gem's face, currently turned away from her. As Zircon did so, Béhierite shielded her face from view with a sleeve.

"I-I know a good-a great deal about the Parasites, a-and the First Gem War a-and, if Blue Diamond should ever need help, I just want My Diamond to know I would be _honored_ to lend my assistance." Béhierite stopped abruptly, lowering her arm and twisting the cuffs of her sleeves.

It took a moment for Blue Zircon to gather some words for this strange request. "I suppose it wouldn't be much for me to do that-"

Béhierite spun around and bowed. "Thank you very much! I cannot emphasize how much I want My Diamond to know that I-"

Blue Zircon hoisted the older Gem up from underneath her arms, forcing her to straighten up. As she did so, she insisted loudly: "I appreciate your help and I will certainly convey your words to Blue Diamond, so, _if you'll leave now, that would be_ _ **really**_ _nice._ "

Taking the hint, Béhierite scampered out from underneath Blue Zircon's hook grab, and stumbled backwards, out of the room. Blue Zircon sighed, then started as Béhierite craned her head back around the doorway.

"Er…there's one more thing I forgot to tell you…" she said rather meekly.

" **What** is that?" asked Blue Zircon, forcing her annoyance down.

"Do make sure you replace the book when you finish your research. It's good manners after all…" Béhierite shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, then muttered a last goodbye, and departed the library. Blue Zircon stood still for a moment, then groaned and half-ran back to the book. She had already spent at least two hours wandering around inside White Diamond. Despite having Blue Diamond's reassurance that her presence was allowed inside the library, Blue Zircon felt it would be best to conclude her business as fast as possible. She did not desire a confrontation with or questioning of any kind from any Gem, especially not the librarians. Inside this Restricted section of the library, the librarians or guards would be certain to ask questions. Blue Zircon did not have satisfactory answers; she had leaped into her mission of gathering knowledge without concocting any alibi. Hopefully, she could conclude her business quietly, and be gone without any Gem the wiser.

In the interest of this goal, Blue Zircon cracked open the book and began to study the thick metal pages, learning of the Parasites and their war with Gemkind.

* * *

As Blue Zircon chewed through her dense read, White Diamond reclined on her throne in her office. Her throne had been custom built, and was not a hologram that could be summoned on demand as the other Diamonds' were. Instead, the throne base clung to the floor of her office; it could not be moved. Her throne served not only as a chair, but as a communications hub, wherein she could connect her consciousness to the building, far more effectively than without the throne.

In this way, White Diamond could monitor the structural integrity of the building, assist with any accidents happening, aid any Gems in need of it, perform diagnostics and all-around upkeep of her precious building. Surprisingly, there had been no accidents at the centrifugal stations in the feet. White Diamond had drawn a maintenance schedule from the records of every accident that had happened in the building from the moment of its creation. She had seen a pattern with the centrifuges of the feet; once every two weeks, one would begin to leak lubrication fluid. A minor mishap that did not require personal intervention from a Diamond, but it would have taken her but a minute to do. Now, however, White Diamond had a minute right before the upcoming meeting in which she had nothing to do.

White Diamond disconnected from her throne. Tendrils of white fluid snaked from her Gem, eyes, feet, and other sensory organs to retreat into the throne's interior. She sat up then, and drew one leg underneath her chin, letting her right hand swing loose. A few seconds passed. White Diamond got up, and paced around her office, halting as a brilliant blue light announced the arrival of Blue Diamond.

"You are 45 seconds early," remarked White Diamond, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. This was simply a game Blue and White liked to play, but it relied a good deal on knee-jerk reactions. So soon after the Trial, White Diamond would like a glimpse into how Blue was feeling.

Blue Diamond seemed sluggish to respond. She sat done at the throne prepared for her, smiling strangely. After a moment, her eyes lifted their gaze from the ground to the expectant White Diamond. "Hmm? O-oh! Er…" She seemed unable to form a response, preoccupied as she was with another matter. White Diamond was certain she knew what this matter was.

White sat back down in her throne, crossing her legs. She leaned forwards, supporting her weight with her left fist, perched upon her leg. "'You shouldn't be obsessed with the time, White Diamond!'" she affected a deeper, smoother voice, like Blue Diamond's.

This did not have the expected effect, either. "…Right."

Without prompting, Blue Diamond said, "I was thinking about Pink Diamond."

"Mmm," grunted White Diamond. Predictable, like always. White Diamond supposed Blue would start to mourn Pink Diamond again, with many Blue Floods and tears.

Blue Diamond lifted up her hand to her mouth, and pressed a thumb against her lips, frowning. After a moment, she turned back to White Diamond. "Do you remember how Pink Diamond made you that spear, White? The simple one, with the engravings?"

White Diamond straightened her back, a little surprised. "Do you mean that one?" She gestured at a thin, relatively simple spear, tipped with unstable heavy metals. On its handle, in a line of sloppy, ragged, archaic Gem Runes, a small dedication read: "From the Diamond whose Gem Strength is Parallel to None to the squishy squashy White Diamond".

"I remember you needed a great deal of tutoring to use the weapon properly. You kept throwing it instead of impaling with it…" Blue Diamond chuckled, then her face sobered up. She closed her eyes, then asked White Diamond, "What will we be discussing today?"

White Diamond was simultaneously thrilled to change the topic, and slightly disturbed at Blue's behavior. "I am surprised you want to know. Surprised, but pleased," White shrugged, then brought out a hologram. One the side seemed to be a long, long scrolling bar. Blue Diamond's eyes fluttered.

White Diamond curled the fingers of her outstretched hand. One step at a time, then. It wouldn't do to have Blue lose interest in anything but managing Pink's affairs again. "Er…how about a short summary of today's meeting?" suggested White Diamond quickly.

"Of course. That would be excellent," said Blue, perking up.

As White explained the agenda, a thought popped into White Diamond's Gem. Yellow Diamond had not arrived, and the meeting was a few minutes after the start. White Diamond trailed off, looking curiously around the room. White had not heard Yellow warp in, so…?

Blue looked up from White's hologram, slightly amused. "Have you lost interest, White?"

White's head shot back down to Blue. "No. The meeting is due to start, and Yellow has not arrived."

Blue Diamond said, "Oh."

White's eyes flickered to Blue, then White uncrossed her legs and stood from her chair. As she did so, the doors to her office slid open, to reveal Yellow Diamond standing right behind them. Her fists were clenched, and her face was heavily lined. "If you're finished _gossiping_ , let's start the meeting."

Yellow crossed the berth, and sat down in her chair, hard. She leaned forward, back hunched and fingers clawed. "I would have expected that a Diamond who prides herself on her _constant vigilance_ would have noticed sooner that I was not present." Yellow lifted her chin. "But you-"

White Diamond interrupted her. " _AND I_ would have expected that a Diamond who prides herself on her _logic_ would not have poofed a Gem at the slightest provocation." She shrugged her shoulders, splaying out her arms and leering at Yellow.

Yellow Diamond's face twisted into an ugly shape, nostrils flaring and eyes widening.

White Diamond started as Blue Diamond slammed her fists onto her throne's armrests, producing a weighty _THUD_. "That is **enough** from the both of you. We are exhausted from the events of the Trial, and none of us are thinking logically. **We** insist that this pointless squabbling stops, at _once_."

For a bit, White Diamond and Yellow Diamond sat motionlessly in their throne, stunned by Blue's outburst. For White Diamond, it certainly brought back memories. Blue Diamond's fists uncurled and her face relaxed. She added more meekly, "…and Pink Diamond wouldn't want us to fight. We have better topics to discuss, right, White Diamond?"

White Diamond nodded.

The tension seemed to flow from Yellow Diamond as she pressed her back against the chair. "…at least something came of this whole debacle."

"What would that be?" asked Blue Diamond.

White Diamond chuckled and smiled. "Bringing back the Royal Voice, are we? And here I believed _that_ Blue Diamond had vanished."

Blue Diamond fidgeted a little in her chair. "I could not stand by and watch you fight." White Diamond shrugged, deciding not to mention that Blue normally raised softer objections to their quarrels than commanding them to stop.

This was actually a bit refreshing…White Diamond allowed herself to fantasize about giving Blue Diamond a few, more challenging administrative tasks.

After a moment of painting castles in the sky, White Diamond wondered if she should apologize to Yellow for needling her so soon after that Zircon's accusation. The thought made her physical form churn. She was never the flexible one; after a fresh bout of verbal jousting, Yellow and White normally would ignore each other until circumstances forced them to reconcile. And Yellow Diamond had, technically, started it…

However, it didn't seem right not to honor Blue Diamond's actions with a similar odd action of her own. After a moment of undoing and untwisting her pride long enough to stomach her next words, White Diamond decided to go for it the way she did in the old days, when Pink was there to energize them all: **WITH MAXIMUM EFFORT!**

Casting aside all of her carefully built up dignity, White Diamond put her fierce plan of action in motion. She pierced Yellow Diamond with a fierce glare.

Yellow met her glare with eyes narrowed, and her mouth stretched into a slight sneer. Before she could speak, White shut her eyes in her most courageous manner and bellowed in her loudest voice, " **I APOLOGIZE FOR NEEDLING AND INSULTING YOU, YELLOW DIAMOND!** " As she did so, her hair inflated, becoming rigid and bushy.

…After a moment, White Diamond opened her eyes, feeling a wave of shame and embarrassment. The guards cracked open the doors and peeked inside. Yellow Diamond stared at her, cheeks raised and eyebrows furrowed only a bit. Blue Diamond just stared.

A cascade of fluid flowed into White Diamond's cheeks. She glared at the both of them, and turned away. Temporarily banishing the memories of her latest humiliating decision from her mind, White Diamond relaxed in her chair, getting cozy and trying to return to normal. She smacked her hands together. "All right. We have burned away at least seven minutes here."

Yellow Diamond made a soft noise.

White Diamond crumpled her mouth at Yellow. "I wasn't counting the exact seconds. But now, we can proceed!" She thrust her hands down into her throne, grasping something within the throne's fluid interior. In response, the doors slid open fully, making the guards stumble forward. "Why don't you come in, Rhedicax, and deliver your report?"


	10. Announcement

So...several chapters have been overdue. I don't want to publish anything yet, because once our beloved blue Zirkie starts to collect info, eventually there'll be a confrontation, along the lines of those Miles Edgeworth games. I'm busy compiling a large, I guess, complete, fleshed-out storyline of what happens. So I'll know exactly what happens before I write it, so I can foreshadow and revise the story.

I don't wanna rush it and produce a subpar product. So I'll have ta ask y'all to wait for an unknown amount of time...(m;_ _)m

But I still am working on the story. And I foresee I'll have much more time when the summer semester ends...though I will still need to assist in the lab even through the rest of the summer.


	11. Research, Part Three

Amber sighed, and shoved her chair out from the lobby desk. Walking out into the lobby, Amber announced to the Gems bustling about: "Excuse me, everyone!" Heads swiveled to gaze at her. Several Gems concluded their business as she spoke, and left. _I bet_ **they** _checked the event calendar for today,_ the Amber thought with satisfaction. If more patrons did their due diligence before coming to the library, Amber would not have to spend precious minutes ushering out the other patrons.

"There will be an event in this library in about an hour. The lobby must be cleared out, so we may prepare for this event. Please conclude your business within ten minutes, and leave. Thank you." Amber swiveled on her heel, stiffly marching to the caterers, patiently waiting by a service entrance. With a few curt words, she informed them that the library lobby was ready to be gussied up for the upcoming event.

It wasn't, of course. Many patrons still milled around in the lobby, partly from confusion. A few had taken to arguing with the receptionists over something beyond their control. Amber decided not to intervene. She had no doubt the other receptionists could handle the issue.

Soon all patrons had departed, except for those in the Restricted section. The Ambers decided to let those patrons alone. For one, those who were allowed in the Restricted section tended to be more important, and Amber had no desire to ruffle their feathers. Second, while the entrance to the Restricted section _was_ behind the lobby, the patrons inside could take the back door out of the library. A guard would make sure no books had been stolen and check their IDs, but still, a minor inconvenience.

The caterers wheeled large tables into the lobby, along the sides of the room. A podium was placed at the far left end of the lobby, and many seats were placed along the thoroughfare. In the extra space, several metal display skeletons stood up, and the conference speakers pasted up the results of their research. Amber and a few other receptionists formed a line for the guests to check in. With a quick glance at the clock, Amber noted their event would open on time. Amber faced forward, squirming a little. Of course, any event she handled would go flawlessly-how could it not?

At the back of the lobby room, caterers lined off a large circle with red ropes, for their extra-special guest. The conference began! And the topic today was risk-reward assessment. When deciding on backing a venture, how does one estimate the risk, and balance with the potential rewards? A worthy topic.

A thrumming noise, reverberating along the entire room, announced the arrival of White Diamond. From the ground she rose, within the red ropes, already seated upon a white throne. The library director immediately scampered over and supplied White Diamond with a plan for today's conference.

In full view of all the library staff, White Diamond leafed through the plan. Closing the back cover, she looked up, and gave all the library staff, even those receptionists who gave her shy looks, a smile. "I look forward to this event."

Each of the library staff threw themselves back into the event's proceedings with renewed vigour.

In the Restricted section, Blue Zircon replaced the last of her readings. She packed up her holograms, her careful photocopies of the books, and left the alcove she was holed up in. As she approached the threshold of the Restricted Section and the lobby, a vibration conducted itself up her legs. As she grew closer, the vibration grew, joined by the tumultuous sound of Gems chatting with each other. Confused, Blue Zircon palmed the door's knob for a moment, then opened it a crack and peeked outside.

A sea of Gems carpeted the library's lobby. A mountain in the sea of faces, White Diamond loomed over all, face buried in a large leaflet. Blue Zircon squeaked, reflexively closing the door. What had happened while she was holed up in her studies? Blue Zircon abandoned the door, and fled down the silent, narrow halls, toward the back exit.

Through the silent, unbranched hallways, past many alcoves encompassing many topics, Blue Zircon finally entered a rotunda. A silent crowd filled the compact space, lawyer Gems and military personnel all. Blue Zircon spied an exit at the end; by it stood a guard station. Several Gems exited, as the Agate guards checked their ID and patted them down, hands fluttering quickly over their forms.

Blue Zircon's face puckered up, lips drawn and cheeks crinkled. Nope. She wasn't going through that door. Blue Zircon did indeed have an ID, cleared by Blue Diamond's court, but she could not what exactly those Agates were checking. The keys, given to her by Blue Diamond, would certainly raise questions, for only the library directory possessed a full set of keys.

Retreating, Blue Zircon set back for the lobby, thinking carefully. How could she slip out unnoticed? If she could be casual enough about it, Blue believed she could make it. She would need to pass though before the conference actually started. Once quiet fell, a lone Gem exiting as all others sat would not fail to stick out.

At the fateful door, Blue Zircon composed herself, willing the extremities of her form to change. Her hair took on a few unnecessary curls, and her dress flooded through with a dusky purple color. Any more, Blue Zircon could not do. She was just too rattled, but this cursory disguise might help her. With a solemn face, Blue Zircon entered the library lobby.

Right behind the receptionists' desks, Blue Zircon slipped the door shut, observing few Ambers had kept their seats. Most were at the library entrance, checking in guests and assigning seats. A stack of leaflets lay on the end of the long table. Moving slowly and smoothly, Blue Zircon let her fingers snag one off the top of the stack as she passed by.

Raising it to her face, Blue Zircon scanned it quickly. Judging by the time, the initial presentations had begun, and the first speaker would take the podium in ten minutes, to kick start the talk in full. Snapping it to her side, Blue Zircon continued, into the sea of guests.

Most Gems in attendance came from Blue and White diamond's courts-mathematicians, aristocrats, and engineers. They congregated in small groups, chit chatting about whatever. Blue Zircon aimlessly wove her way through the groups, trying to blend in, but always traveling in the direction of the exit.

Leaving the throng of chatters, Blue Zircon approached an area of posters. Several Gems stood by their respective research, discussing their work with whomever stopped. Blue Zircon cast her gaze around; either she could pass through and hope to not be approached, or pass in front of White Diamond. Blue Zircon had only five minutes to go; she entered the throng of researchers.

As she passed the first row, Blue Zircon studiously avoided eye contact with any of the presenters, winding her way through them all. Blue Zircon rounded the corner and entered the second row. As she did, her eyes raised to study the lay of the land, and made direct contact with a Wolfram Gem standing proudly in front of a robotics display.

Seizing the moment, the Wolfram immediately engaged Blue Zircon in conversation, four minutes on the clock. Caught broadside, Blue Zircon froze for a moment, before she reflexively stammered out, "What's that?"

Taken as interest, Wolfram began to discuss their research, attracting a small crowd. Blue Zircon waited until the Wolfram's eyes shot back to their display. She took a step back, brushing against a tall Aquamarine. Another step back; the Aquamarine tilted forward, taking Blue Zircon's place. Blue Zircon slowly stepped back, and the crowd around the Wolfram closed back, filling her space.

Blue Zircon spun around, and sped up her pace. Though she was attracting curious attention, she couldn't help it; she did not want to be here, not so near White Diamond. Did White Diamond know anything about her? Did she recognize her? Were there guards coming, perhaps to demand an explanation? Had the Diamonds discovered one of their own was dealing behind their backs, hostile intentions or not?

A short, elegant Sapphire assumed the podium, so far away at the opposite end of the lobby. At the sound of her voice, the guests and presenters gravitated towards her. Blue Zircon passed through the quickly emptying third row, and came to a stop before the library exit.

Two tables lay there, where the receptionists had finished checking Gems in. Blue Zircon flung herself forward, walking quickly, covering her Gem with the leaflet. As she did so, lifted a hologram to her face, busying herself in a fictional conversation. The Ambers did not pay attention as she passed by, talking among themselves and viewing the guest lists.

One lifted their head.

Blue Zircon gasped, terrified. Lifting a finger jerkily, Blue Zircon jabbed it in the air like if she had been seized. The Amber's eyes fluttered in confusion. She waved her hand in the air, nodding and returning her attention to the guest rolls.

As she left the library behind her, Blue Zircon smashed her hologram against her face as a wave of relief came over her. Ashamed of her earlier panic, Blue Zircon fled the area, vanishing into the halls of White Diamond's building.

She did not break her unneeded flight until she had made her way to the Vein Lifts, back to Blue Diamond's Court, a place familiar and soothing to her.


	12. Witness Investigation-Part One

Onyx NX765, writer of several guides, foremost advisor to Pink Diamond, had failed miserably and completely. Onyx sported her black Gem upon her mouth, her role to watch and listen for Pink Diamond's enemies, and snuff them out before Pink Diamond ever knew-a task she had ruined just as a derelict building is not fit to support life. A failure so momentous, as the pink wave shattered Onyx's physical form, she fully expected to be shattered. When she reformed, in Yellow Diamond's custody, she could not believe she still lived.

 _They want me to tell how Pink Diamond died,_ she thought. _But I was not there, so I do not know…_

 _As Pink Diamond charged into the distance, her faithful but ultimately inadequate advisor could not follow, knocked off-balance by a Garnet, who then disappeared as quick as she had come. On the ground, many other Crystal Gems converged upon her. And while she fought them off, Pink Diamond died._

Indeed, under supervision of a Yellow Zircon, Onyx was interrogated. After telling all, Onyx was assigned to the Kindergartens on Earth. _Make sure the soldiers come out well and fight bravely._

 _I suppose I still have some use to the Diamonds,_ Onyx mused.

The war ended with a brilliant blast of song. Two days before the end, Blue Diamond's entourage arrived and whisked all who remained from Pink Diamond's court away from Earth. Once at Homeworld, Onyx watched as Yellow Diamond assigned the Earth soldiers to her contingent. White Diamond took some of Pink Diamond's engineers for herself, but otherwise looked on. Finally, Blue Diamond took Onyx, and what remained of Pink Diamond's closest aides.

 _I will be shattered now for my failures,_ Onyx believed.

She was not. Blue Diamond led her and her comrades to the hall just outside her inner chambers. Instead of entering, Blue Diamond led them all into a newly-hewn passageway, the door several hundred feet from Blue Diamond's own chambers. The passageway was unlit but polished, and reflected the warm blue light in strange ways, lending the room an eerie lighting.

Onyx picked up her pace, keeping close to Blue Diamond. At the end, a massive door, taller than even Blue Diamond, opened up into darkness. Onyx peered in, switching to her night vision. The lights abruptly came on, dazzling Onyx.

The room was massive, and shaped in an upside down U. On the left side, a large terrace stepped up halfway the room's height, like an amphitheatre, before levelling off. Atop this open-air pseudo-second floor were pods and tables, devices, computers, many other things. Onyx looked around. Similar getups were peppered over the large floor; chandeliers hung from the ceiling in a style that was most certainly mimicking Earth's. Slightly sick, she turned back to Blue Diamond.

"My Diamond, why have you brought us here?"

"You must stay here, where you all will be safe," Blue Diamond said, ushering them all in with her huge hands.

The massive doors ground closed, shutting with the clicks of locks and the thuds of bolts.

In the same room, remnants of Pink Diamond's closest courtiers remained. Blue Diamond visited often, demanding to hear the same stories of Pink Diamond's exploits over, and over, and over again. Hearing such tales of Pink Diamond's greatness cheered her up, as it made her collected Gems more miserable. The two other Diamonds tolerated this, until the great shortage crashed down on Homeworld. With no outlet for her stress, White Diamond grew irritated with Blue.

She saw Gems with valuable talents, caged up, unutilized, out of a misguided desire to enshrine Pink Diamond's greatness for all eternity. Unwilling to put up with it any longer, White Diamond threatened to confiscate all of them, and send them to distant planets on dangerous missions. Grudgingly, Blue Diamond allowed Onyx and her friends to leave the room, to perform tasks like overseeing the formation of new colonies or maintenance of Homeworld's' important battleships. Onyx was glad. She felt empty and wrung out, and these missions gave her something to do, besides wallow in misery.

Blue Zircon sat quietly, back against a cold blue marble wall, in some byway of Blue Diamond's court, the cobalt causeway calming her back to normal. She felt exhausted, and unhappy, mostly with herself. The Great Gem Detective, getting all panicky because she had to walk past White Diamond.

Pah! White Diamond wasn't even paying attention! Her nose was deep in that huge packet of hers.

… _Of course,_ thought Blue Zircon, _I could be in a jail somewhere, wishing I had been more careful._

Blue Zircon sat there awhile, before rousing herself. Springing up into the air, tamping down her conflicting emotions, she circled in place, grinding her heel into the stone. All this misery was getting her nowhere! Where was that insane confidence she had when she accused the Diamonds of murdering one of their own? She had a task to do, and by the Diamonds, she'd do it!

Her new-found burst of optimism and confidence faded away quickly, leaving a sense of disquiet. Blue Zircon sighed, and brought up her notes, to decide what to do next.

It was Blue Zircon's great fortune that so many witnesses from such a long time ago were still alive. She honestly had expected most of them to be dead, from the wars Homeworld had since participated in.

Nevertheless, Blue Zircon made the short journey back to Blue Diamond's inner chambers. The guards allowed her passage wordlessly, as if expecting her.

A few steps into the large upside-down U room, Blue Zircon took a seat at a nearby bench. Glancing down the list of witnesses interrogated in the investigation long ago, Blue Zircon weighed her options. First, the logistician, a prim Aquamarine.

Right by her name was that of Pink Diamond's prime advisor, an Onyx. The description read her as a short and stocky Gem, with light grey skin, black discs for eyes, and her Gem upon her mouth.

Blue Zircon had already read her testimony; the interrogator was more interested in the identities of the attackers and how the scene played out than what happened in the days before. Blue Zircon knew the names of the Crystal Gems present, and was very surprised to see all five commanders were present: White Pearl, Garnet, Antimony, Crazy Lace, and Biggs Jasper.

The base where Pink Diamond was shattered was solely within Homeworld controlled territory. Pink Diamond's decision to go there was spur-of-the-moment; no one but she knew that's where they were going. How did the Crystal Gems know Pink Diamond would be present? How did they gain entrance to the base, without raising any alarm from the soldiers present at the base?

Blue Zircon had an idea: there must have been a traitor, someone to let the Crystal Gems in, someone close enough to know Pink Diamond's every movement. But who…?

Blue Zircon decided to begin with how they would have gained entry-hence why she wanted the military intelligence, undoubtedly contained in Yellow Diamond's HQ. Had there been any large shipments, or many small shipments into the base a few days before the event? Someone with a lot of power (perhaps Pink Diamond's inner circle) could have placed the Crystal Gems within these packages and brought them inside the base without anyone noticing. Had there been any humans near the gates? Blue Zircon was not sure if the Crystal Gems had been able to transform into humans, but it was worth checking out.

Blue Zircon did not think it was likely that the Rebels would have planted any agents before Pink Diamond's arrival. The base was extremely remote, and in the heart of Homeworld-occupied territory. No important Gems were housed there; it wasn't the site of any military training. It was simply a base placed upon a piece of land to show Homeworld's ownership. There would be no benefit to planting spies at a base where nothing ever happened. Still, Blue Zircon would check if any spies had been caught.

Checking her case files, all warp pads had been dissected. Analysis showed no one had hijacked them, to change the entry point. Indeed, it was not easy to hijack or meddle with a Warp Pad. Blue Zircon had procured an antique Warp Pad maintenance book-indeed, unless broken or damaged irreversibly, a warp pad was hard to tamper with. Such a very important piece had several important controls: only a specific Gem was allowed to perform maintenance, the Pad was encased in a tough green insulator to prevent any hijacking electrical signals, the Pad logged who came and went, and so on…

No movements occurred in the air over the base, except for Pink Diamond and Company arriving at the base. The case files showed the Yellow Zircon in charge had dug through the ground underneath the base for tunnels and bombarded the ground with ultrasound and such, seeking out relevant anomalies. This search had yielded nothing but ordinary activity.

So then…an ordinary activity, hiding an abnormal action: unless prying eyes knew exactly what to look for, the guise of the commonplace, familiar event would hide the Crystal Gems' infiltration of the base.

Blue Zircon supposed the most likely way the Crystal Gems entered was through a very large shipment-all at once. The insider would stage a large incoming shipment, pack them in, and let them out once inside. The remoteness of the base guaranteed less soldiers would be there, and…

But Blue Zircon could not get ahead of herself. She had to be ready for results that directly contradicted her current way of thinking.

She took a moment to orient herself, then set out in search of the quartermaster. She had only taken a few steps until every Gem in the room knew a visitor had stepped into their cage. As if one, they gathered around Blue Zircon until she was surrounded by a semi-circle of Gems, all eagerly awaiting for her to announce the purpose of her visit.


	13. Parallel Investigation

Someday, I'll set a schedule and actually be able to put out content on a regular basis. :/

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The front door of the Beach House opened, and after a moment, slammed shut. Garnet sat on the couch quietly as Steven entered and settled at the table, Connie in tow. The two settled down quickly at their respective seats.

Steven had a rather tense, unhappy look on his face. He glanced at Garnet often, eyes skittering away after a few seconds. Connie simply sat, her hands on her knees, face set in a determined expression. She stared at the far wall, where the door to the Gem Temple stood.

Any moment, Pearl and Amethyst would arrive, and they could begin. Amethyst arrived first, bounding into the room, yelling a greeting. Her rambunctious mood was soon quelled by the immobility of Garnet and the silence of Steven and Connie.

Her smile drooped, "Why so serious guys?"

Amethyst tilted her head around to look at Garnet, still not moving an iota. "What's up? Why'd you call us this late in the night, Steven?"

She smirked. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

In as few words as possible, Garnet explained to her why Steven had wanted to speak to them. Amethyst's smile fell right off her face, and she settled down on the opposite side of Garnet, closer to the end of the couch. "Pearl will _love_ this."

Garnet hummed. She could not follow the flow of time into the future beyond the moment Pearl sat down and their discussion began. The paths diverged into a myriad of possible futures, many as equally possible as the next. She could not pick out a likely one, so she sat and waited for the future to unfold itself.

Pearl arrived. "You wanted to talk, Steven?"

"Yes!" said Steven, springing up. "I wanted to talk to you guys about my mom!"

"Oh." Pearl sat next to Garnet, straight across from Steven. "I-"

Connie interrupted, "We wanted to know how exactly Pink Diamond died!"

Steven modified, "Did my mom kill Pink Diamond? Those Homeworld Gems, they said she did! I just don't understand! If Rose didn't want to hurt any Gem so badly, then why kill Pink Diamond?"

Pearl sighed, and sagged into the couch. "Steven," she began, flipping a palm into the air, "your mother was great and good. She cared about those Homeworld Gems, and about us and the humans on Earth. She had nothing to do with-"

Steven interrupted, "During that trial they put me on, Eyeball said that she saw Rose Quartz!"

"She _lied_ , Steven!" Pearl clamped her upright hand into a fist.

Steven scowled. "Eyeball wouldn't lie!"

Amethyst fidgeted, and shot a glance to Garnet. Garnet remained still.

Pearl shot back, eyebrows descending a bit, "Steven! You should know better than to trust the words of some stupid Eyeball Ruby!"

Before Steven could retaliate, Pearl continued, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Steven. You said that Eyeball doesn't lie, and maybe that's so."

"It's true," Steven muttered. Pearl ignored that and kept talking. "Maybe she spoke a lie, without knowing it."

Steven gave that a moment's consideration, then looked at Connie. Connie crinkled her nose. Steven turned back to Pearl, and uncrossed his arms, changing the subject. "Well, even without Ruby, those Homeworld Gems really thought my mom killed Pink Diamond, _and_ Garnet said she was ravaging the Earth! Did you guys have anything to do with getting rid of her?!"

Pearl groaned. "It doesn't matter whether Garnet or any of the Rebels had anything to do with anything. What matters is that _Rose would never have shattered Pink Diamond with her own hands!"_

Garnet nodded. That was most certainly true.

Connie jabbed her hand forward-she had a sudden reply. "But did some other Crystal Gem kill Pink Diamond? Someone who wasn't Rose! Maybe Rose didn't know!"

Pearl breathed in and out. "…No. Rose knew everything, always. She was the Leader of the Crystal Gems."

"Steven. There's no reason to go over any of this. Your mother had nothing to do with that, whatsoever. Even more importantly, _you_ don't have anything to do with Pink Diamond's death."

Pearl stood. "It doesn't matter what Rose did or did not do. **You** have nothing to do with this, it doesn't concern you!" Pearl turned around abruptly and went straight back into her room.

Amethyst pivoted around and watched her go. After a moment, she jumped off the couch and wandered over to Steven. "Wow. You caught Pearl off guard there."

Steven furrowed his brow but did not reply. Garnet stood up, and tapped Amethyst on the shoulder. Amethyst followed Garnet out of Steven's hearing.

Garnet spoke then. "Amethyst. Let's follow Pearl. The three of us need to talk."

"Ok…" muttered Amethyst as the two left.

Steven and Connie watched them go. Connie turned to Steven. "Well, that went well."

"Hmm." Steven pulled his knees up to his chin. "We should try again tomorrow."

"Good idea." Connie affirmed. She clapped Steven on his shoulder, and hooked her arm under his, dragging him from the house. "Now that Garnet and Amethyst are gone, do you know what's gonna happen now…?"

"We set out on our _spy mission!_ " burst out Connie. Steven shushed her quickly, the both of them throwing a glance at the Beach House to make sure no one had heard.

The Beach House was still, the lights still on and shining out into the bay. The same could be seen through them; there was no change.

"We have to find Lion," said Steven. "Luckily, I saw him before we entered the Beach House!"

"Really? Great! Where did you see him?"

Steven turned and pointed under the foundation of the Beach House. "He was going under there."

Connie frowned. "Why would Lion want to go underneath there?" She bent and crooked her torso at it. "It looks very small. And uncomfortable."

Steven shrugged, "A few days ago, I found him under there, cracking the shells of crabs. I guess he likes it."

Connie grimaced. "Ugh. You should stop him from torturing those crabs!"

"Well, I only just found out about it! And I tried, but he keeps doing it!"

"Ugghhh…that Lion needs to know that torturing poor defenseless crabs is unconscionable!"

"I tried to stop him, Connniiieee…"

The pair argued until they reached Lion.

True to Steven's previous sighting, Lion lurked in the corner, flicking his paws at any crab that dared to come too close. As he caught a glimpse of the duo approaching, Lion slid his butt backwards, descending further into the foundations. Lion occupied the entire space between the sand floor and the wood house, and thus could not withdraw easily. His head knocked against the boards that jutted out, and his mane got caught in the tiny gaps between the boards. A little wisp of mane would get torn out when Lion slid too far too fast. Though no one could notice such a tiny sliver, the tiny sharp pains hurt Lion fiercely.

And so, Connie and Steven caught up with Lion. Entreaties and bribes of sweets and seafood failed; Lion sprawled out over the sand as best he could, refusing to move. In the second phase of Connie's cunning plan to force Lion to participate, she poked Lion repeatedly in the butt with her scabbard, as Steven yanked on his mane.

The stick succeeded where the carrot had failed. Lion grudgingly came out, losing several more slips of mane in the process. He glowered at Steven and Connie as they formed Stevonnie. He refused to let Stevonnie sit on his back the first time, dropping his haunches. Stevonnie slid off Lion's slick back, flopping down in the sand.

After a scolding, Lion did his job quickly and abruptly, warping Stevonnie away in the most uncomfortable way possible. The moment Stevonnie was safely at their destination (albeit piled up on the floor), Lion departed without a second glance.

Stevonnie lay sprawled in the dirt, temporarily incapacitated. An odd noise in their ears, like the sound of water rushing past skin; the feeling of ants crawling all over; bright flashes and pops of color, quick streaks across their eyes.

Stevonnie focused for a moment, and realized they felt no pain. Encouraged by this, they set their left knee under them, and began to rise. Stevonnie's right side remained on the ground as Stevonnie's left side rose, the middle becoming soft and gluey, dangerously stretching Stevonnie apart. Panicking, Stevonnie ceased their efforts, going limp and collapsing on their face. After a moment, the half of Stevonnie that had regained their feeling knit back together with the fully awake left side.

Stevonnie rose again, drawing their feet underneath them, and stayed in place for a few seconds. The difference in recovery of their two parts had begun to split Stevonnie in two, but they felt divided no longer. Fully convinced their body was up to speed, they set out on their journey.

But first, Stevonnie planned on drawing up a suitable plan of attack. They trotted around the walls of the old Kindergarten, hunting for a suitable hole to hide in. Stevonnie dug their fingers into the ledge of a decent sized hole, then began to haul themselves in. Stevonnie did not fit well. They had to curve their back against the wall, then tuck their legs against their chest. Even still, their toes crumpled painfully against the rough dirt, causing Stevonnie to hiss and grumble as they entered the hole. Stevonnie did not retreat too far in, as they needed to be able to make a quick exit.

Thus hidden away from the world, Stevonnie began to think. Despite being an amalgam of Steven and Connie, they did not possess the same outlook as the two did. Possessing both Steven's and Connie's memories, they could see that both of the two children loved the idea of infiltrating Homeworld and stealing away the truth from the wicked Diamonds-just like a ninja movie. The good ninja sneaks out of the evil emperor's mansion, bearing the precious truth.

But Stevonnie knew neither had ever really been to Homeworld, and they did not where such a truth would be kept. Perhaps the Diamonds had destroyed evidence that could be used against their position. Perhaps the Diamonds themselves did not know the truth, and simply used Rose Quartz as a scapegoat. Stevonnie settled their chin on their knees, and began to reason this expedition through.

From what Stevonnie knew, Steven had been tried in a building above them. Both Diamonds had been present. Even if the two had traveled to this location, it stood to reason that an important occasion would be held in an important room, an important building.

A probe flicked past, scanning the area half-heartedly with a dazzling ruby light. It distracted Stevonnie for only a second.

 _And so, this building is worth checking out,_ finished Stevonnie. _I won't be too ambitious this go-around. I'm just going to collect a little information, summon Lion, and go back home. Right. That's what I'll do. Just a little reconnaissance mission, nothing too dangerous._ Nodding to themselves, Stevonnie began to scooch themselves out of the cramped space. At the entrance, Stevonnie checked both ways for enemies, then hopped right out.

As they did so, they scooped up a smidgeon of dirt, then spat in their palm. Taking another finger, they mixed the dirt and saliva into a slurry, then rubbed their palm all over their Gem. Stevonnie felt the cold, wet dirt rubbing against the Gem in their very soul. They scrunched up their toes and shuddered. It felt absolutely disgusting.

Hopefully, no Gem would be able to recognize them off the bat though. Stevonnie didn't think any Gem would recognize them if their Gem was covered up.

From Steven's memories, Stevonnie charted their path, the incline ever increasing, until they came to the point where Steven and Lars fell from the courtroom. Here, they would have to climb.

Stevonnie dug one of their heels into the soft, warm black ground. The ground felt like Styrofoam; their heel dug into it, not breaking the top, until the surface gave way. Stevonnie fell forward, stopping abruptly as their foot compressed the soil enough to withstand their weight. Stevonnie grunted, and squirmed their foot around in the gravelly, fluid-like soil. Eventually, their foot lodged free, and Stevonnie thrust their sword into the ground.

The sword proved to be an effective enough cane. Stevonnie used the sword as a foothold, submerging one foot in the hill, plunging the sword a little further up, then placing their other foot upon the sword, and thus proceeding up the hill in that manner.

Approximately 200 feet in the air, a wire mesh covered the rest of the cliff. Stevonnie rapidly ascended, slapping their hands upon a windowsill. Stevonnie peeked over the windowsill. Inside lay a bare office, the walls of a dingy slate blue. The room was about 12 feet by 10 feet, with a slate blue desk and chair in the middle.

Stevonnie hauled themselves into the room as quietly as they could. Facing the window was a door. Stevonnie squished their face against the door crack, listening. Silence, sometimes broken by a series of eerie squeals and beeps, and other mechanical noises.

 _So…machinery, maybe?_ Stevonnie heard no voices, and so opened the door, stepping out into a spacious room. In front them lay a large table, with a few Gems sitting around it, some sitting quietly, others making loud mechanical noises. Stevonnie froze. The Gems glanced up at them, but otherwise ignored them and continued to talk.

Stevonnie turned around to the right, and walked down a hallway. The path was short, leading past a Gem at a desk, facing a doorway. Stevonnie stiffly walked past, hoping the Gem would not notice.

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Z̶̨̧͇̩̠̖͍͈̳̰͖̗̘̘̭͕͇͚͚͈̞̑̒̑̕ͅZ̸̛̛̩̩̹̱̻͍͇̰̻͈͉̪̪̖̯͉̙̠̫͎͇̦̞͕͇̻͍̟͈̞̜̙̞̠͓͆̉̔͛̿̂̽̔̏̏̔́͂̿̔̀͌̈́̔́̇͆̚̚̕͠͝͠͠͠Z̸̨̢̨̧̡͔̰̹̪͈̪̘̮̜͇̖̼͍͚̘̱̪͚̝̟̫͉̰̩͈̩̝͍͍̞̲̖̣͙͔̝̋̏̅͊͂́̋͊̆͑͘͠ͅt̵̢̯̞̖̙͇̯̦̘͈̯̥̯͇͉̩̍̈́̒̿͂̔́̽̔̉͐̎͐̏̾̐͒͒̎͛͘͝ţ̸̧̧̣͎͇̻͖̻̝͖̫̹̞͙͇̐͗̑̏͂̄̂̀̀̓̉̅͆̏͊̓̇̓́̃̽͒̒͘͝ͅk̴̨̢̨̤͚̱̦͕̦͉͍͖̱͈̤̦͚̦̤̝̠̻̖̤̦̺̱̳͖̺̻̤͕̺͈͒́̉̏́̃̅͆̊̑̄̓́̀̒͆͗͛̀̿͘̕͘͜k̵̨̡͚̻̣̺̞̙̞͓̺͉͔͕̭̥̝̤̺͛̈͐́̽̋̇k̶̨͍̮̼̜̝̱̻͎̅̈́̔͋̍̃̍̾̽̉́̊̅̓͑͠͝r̵̨̨̡̧̛̙͓͚̪͙̺̭̳͙͔̖͚͖̼̰̖̲͖̜̮͇̖͔̲̮̤̳̰͙̺̟̯͔̼̙̜̘̍͐̇̆̾̇͆̓̇͆̇̿̾̌͐̂̊͛̉̓͌̒̈̅̈́̅̌͘̕ͅh̴̢̬͖̟̫̺̙̤̙̭͚͕̿̓̀̀́̏͆̅̑̀̈́̔̔̃̐͑̽̀́͒̌͌͗̀͆͆͗͋̋̑̓̋̕͘̕͘͝͝ͅḧ̵̨̨̡̬̬͚̩̲̳̼̻͙̺̭̙̙͈̳͕͙̟͉̗͉̥̠̞̳̰̙͓̯̳̱̙̝͎́̓̅̂͂͒̀̅͒̆́̇͐͆̂̏̒̌͛͘͜ͅͅͅh̴̥͖͉̓̀͗̂̎̔̔͒̌͒̑̆̀̐͋͘͝͠͝l̸̡̢̧͓̠͕̤̺̩̯͈̮͍͙̝̯͉̰̟̱̰͉͉̰̪̙̱̭̠̩̟̺̞̯̥̝͐̀̑̑͛̈́̋̾͋̂̓͛̏̓̋͋̔̒͘̚͝ͅḵ̶̨̨̢̛̛͍̺̣̩̱̮̭̻̗͙̯̺̳̥͍̬̖̟͇̩͙̂́͂͋͆́͝ͅͅk̴̡̹̙̞̭̙̪̝͕̠̪͉̪̠͈͔̠̅̒̒̒͒͆̄͋̌̍̌̀̉̆͐̾̊̇͌͐͒̑͂͌̈́͊͊̎͂̾̈́̇̈́̽̈̚͘̚͜͝͝͠͝ͅͅk̵͍̱̮̂̆̎̒͊̎̄̾͗͐͆̇̊̔́̿͗̒͊͆̕͝

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A horrible metallic squeal emanated from the Gem behind Stevonnie. Stevonnie whirled around, whipping out their sword and pointing at the Gem. The Gem's six eyes did not waver from the screen she stared at. She was not paying a dash of attention to Stevonnie. Stevonnie quickly sheathed their sword. The Gem scratched behind her ear. Stevonnie turned around, and left through the door.

The six-eyed Gem watched the weird Gem leave the Law Student Honors Office. _There goes another poorly socialized Gem,_ she sighed to herself. When did the Kindergartens forget to teach Gems not to overreact when someone told them, "Have a nice day?"

Outside awaited a maze of deep blue corridors and glass, eerily lit by brilliant white lights. Stevonnie hurried down a flight of stairs, into a large alcove. At once, doors opened, and hundreds of Gems filled the alcove, chatting with each other. No one paid attention to Stevonnie. Stevonnie drew a piece of paper from their backpack, and began to chart their way around the complex.

Stevonnie wandered around for an hour, before coming to a series of courtrooms. A sea of Gems loomed around one in particular. Stevonnie approached as inconspicuously as they could. Inside, a gold railing barred the spectators from approaching. Blue, Yellow, and White Diamond loomed over a small group of Gems in the center of the room, flanked by a few fancily-dressed Gems. Lining the walls of the room stood many guards.

A Yellow Zircon stood approximately equidistant from all three Diamonds, speaking in Homeworld's language. Stevonnie did not believe this Zircon was the same as the one that tried Steven; this one had a curl of hair at the back, and a ruffled suit. A Blue Zircon, much like the one that had defended Steven, only more purplish in color, stood in front of a bunch of monsters. At first blush, the motley group seemed to be Gem Monsters. Their forms were certainly as diverse as they, but the real difference lay in their faces.

Massive jewel like eyes lay embedded all over their bodies. Dark flecks in the jewels gravitated all around, sometimes darting back and forth erratically. Stevonnie supposed those flecks were the pupils, showing where the monsters were looking. The creatures' bodies were pitch black, flowing in response to a nonexistent wind.

Stevonnie watched for a while, but they could not piece together what was going on. When the Diamonds spoke, Stevonnie listened for any change in tone, any emotions. They scrutinized the Diamonds' faces, but none of the three changed. In stark contrast to Steven's colorful trial, this trial proceeded with calm. The Diamonds' emotions seemed to not exist.

Stevonnie fixed their eyes upon Yellow Diamond, and watched to see if she blinked. Yellow Diamond did not blink once. In fact, Stevonnie could not be sure her mouth moved when she spoke, if she was the one speaking. A thought popped in Stevonnie's head-maybe the Diamonds wore porcelain masks instead of faces?

Brushing this silliness aside, Stevonnie stepped back, and wandered down the halls, studying their map. Just as they decided it was time to leave, Lion burst right out of a wall.

Stevonnie rushed over to Lion, and praised him. "How did you know I wanted to leave, Lion?"

Lion looked away. He was still irritated.

Stevonnie craned their head around. "We must have a special connection! One that only exists between a human and their lion! Don't you think so?"

Lion snorted.

One short teleport later, Stevonnie arrived at the Beach House. Stevonnie yelped at the sudden change of scenery: the dreary, dark catacombs of Homeworld to the brilliant sunshine and seagulls of the Beach House.

Thanking Lion, Stevonnie made a beeline for the kitchen, and began to prepare a nice sandwich for lunch. Lion, following, plopped his head on the counter and watched. Noticing him, Stevonnie commented, "After every successful adventure, the heroes always have lunch."

Stevonnie settled down on one of the stools with their sandwich, and began to eat. Lion, who had not moved, continued to watch. "All heroes have to keep up their strength. I'll need your help tomorrow. I'm going to keep exploring Homeworld until I can find the truth!"

Stevonnie chomped a big bite of the sandwich, grinding their teeth against a particularly resilient tomato. After a moment, they added, "I should probably find out where Lars is. You think so too, right?"

Lion nodded sagaciously, then darted his head across and stole Stevonnie's sandwich.


	14. Parallel Investigation, Part Two

Stevonnie stood in front of the clear glass, gazing out over the alien landscape. Steven did not have the opportunity to ever sightsee ( _I'm not here to sightsee! I'm here on a secret spy mission! ...Though it couldn't hurt to look around…)_ so Stevonnie decided to fill the gap.

Stevonnie had entered as before, leaving through the same way, quietly passing the six-eyed Gem. With satisfaction, they noted that they did not flinch when the receptionist Gem shrieked out whatever they did when Stevonnie left. Indeed, no one really seemed to mind Stevonnie at all.

This was good for Stevonnie's investigation…but also contradicted their thinking a little. Was this place not that important where strangers could just wander around? Or were they not in the right place? Were Steven's memories correct? Stevonnie lowered their gaze, and thought a little. Perhaps this was all just a trap.

Stevonnie raised their head after a bit. _I'm just overthinking this_ , they decided. Trap or no, they were going to investigate the best they could. They couldn't just stand around while Lars did his share of the work with the Runaway Gems.

Stevonnie turned their attention to the alien skyline. Long, thin tubes shot across the sky, intersecting one another and clustering at various spots. A massive, white figure in the distance, with long, low, blue buildings surrounding it. Honeycombed walls all around. Stevonnie did not recognize anything at all. Still, the more they gazed, the stranger they felt. If Stevonnie did not know better, they'd place their emotion as being _nostalgia._ But it couldn't be. Neither Steven nor Connie had ever stayed on Homeworld for too long, and Rose had hated this place…

Halting suddenly, Stevonnie whipped their head around, scanning for others. No one. Stevonnie's mood had been plummeting ever since they stared out of that window. Luckily, they remembered one of Connie's pick-me-ups. Stevonnie whipped out their sword, and flowed through a few poses, fighting off imaginary enemies.

As soon as the first beads of sweat appeared on Stevonnie's brow, they ceased their exertion. Despite the short length of the routine, their heart beat out a staccato-they felt refreshed. Stevonnie sheathed their sword, and ran off to continue their exploration.

Whipping out their map, Stevonnie chose a path from the central rotunda right next to the path leading to the courtrooms. The path widened considerably, and terminated in a large, ornate staircase. The staircase led to another rotunda, with many paths barred by doors. The entire rotunda was quiet, only broken by the occasional _clunk_ of a stone falling into a large crystal jutting from the ceiling. Stevonnie assumed it to be a weird clock.

In the center of the room loomed a 50-foot tall black statue of what Stevonnie guessed to be obsidian. The statue depicted a quadruped snarling monster, whose head jerked around their shoulder, to face the stairs. Stevonnie walked towards the statue, staring at it. _Who would put up such a nasty statue, right where people can see it?_ Even though Stevonnie disliked the statue, they had to admit it was well made-it certainly held their attention.

Stevonnie tore their gaze away and walked to the closest door. It was a door-two hinges, made of a sturdy material, set in a frame, with a simple L handle. There wasn't much to say about it. _I guess doors are the same, no matter what._ Stevonnie set their ear against the crack of door and wall and listened, but all they could hear were chirps, chitters and squeals. Stevonnie turned the handle down and pushed forward.

The door opened up into a massive auditorium, packed with Gems. Some even sat on the steps leading down into the bottom. A speaker stood in front of a large hologram of a ship, and spoke in a language Stevonnie did not know. At the sound of the door opening, a few Gems and the speaker turned their head toward the noise.

Stevonnie shrunk back, giving an apologetic bow. They shut the door as quietly as they possibly could, and ran a hand through their hair, trying not to feel overwhelmed with embarrassment. Stevonnie threw a glance over their shoulder, just to make sure the statue had not moved. _Of course it didn't move, it's a statue. Duuhhh…_

The next-door door was rectangular, and narrower. Inside it were only about ten Gems, seated at a medium-sized table the color of a milk chocolate bar. A Gem stood at the front of the table, waffling through a sheathe of papers. Every single one of them turned and stared at Stevonnie as they opened the door. "S-sorry," said Stevonnie quickly, hiding behind the door and shutting as quickly as possible and with as little noise as possible.

Stevonnie retreated a little ways away, next to a statue of the monster. This was not working at all. As soon as the thoughts formed in their head, Lion shot out of a portal. "Right on the money!" cheered Stevonnie, directing Lion to their next destination.

As Lion departed, far away, in a large room awash with yellow light, a Gem studied a hologram, a printout of the energy levels in Blue Diamond's law school. Two more spikes had appeared within several hours of each other, identical to one other anomaly that had appeared two days ago. The Gem stared at the hologram, her eyes darting back and forth between the first blip of energy and these two new anomalies.

This marked the first time Stevonnie had seen Lars's Sun Incinerator in the flesh. Stevonnie liked what they saw; they darted around, asking eager questions from the crew and praising the captain for being able to steal such a thing.

"Did you get hurt?" Stevonnie asked, worried.

"Nooo," groaned Lars, flapping his hand at Stevonnie to drive them away. Stevonnie flinched back and moved to stand in front of Lars. Lars, for his part, slouched in the captain's seat. "Stevonnie, I already told you I didn't get hurt."

"I know that," said Stevonnie. "I was just making sure." Lars hooked his fingers into his cheeks and pulled down, exposing the underside of his eyeballs.

"Are you trying to transform, Lars?" asked Padparadscha, noticing Lars's actions.

"No!" barked Lars. "Just-just-Stevonnie! Why'd you come here, without calling first? Is something big happening, or did you just want to drop by, chat, and annoy me?"

"Why are you so grumpy, Lars?" asked Stevonnie.

Lars groaned and tugged on his face. "We just got _shot at_ , so excuse me if I'm not all sunshine and roses!"

"You were shot at-"

"by Emerald," Completed Rhodonite. "Apparently, she really likes this ship. We managed to escape, but there's no guarantee she won't find us before long."

"Exactly!" yelled Lars. "So we should wrap this meeting up quickly. What do you want?"

"Umm…I can't speak Homeworld!" began Stevonnie. Padparadscha scooted off her chair and began to rummage around in the main console drawers.

"How is this news to anyone?" said Lars. Stevonnie gave him a look, then continued.

"I've been wandering around Homeworld-"

"That is very dangerous," interrupted Fluorite.

"I _know_ that," said Stevonnie. "I'm not gonna just sit around while you guys try to get to Earth! I have to fight against the Diamonds in my own way. We can't just sit around and wait for them to blow up Earth or something!"

"So then you're spying," said Lars, "Except you're not really good at it."

"That's because I don't speak Homeworld's language!" said Stevonnie. "If one of you could maybe help me out-"

"By going back to Homeworld?" gasped Rhodonite. "We'll be spotted instantly! Why do you think we were in hiding on Homeworld?"

"With bodies like ours…we cannot let anyone from Homeworld see us," said Fluorite.

"Just go get Peridot," suggested Lars.

"Peridot doesn't have her limb enhancers." Replied Stevonnie.

Padparadscha piped up, "We don't have to go to Homeworld!" she scrambled over to Stevonnie, volunteering forth an acid green collar with a large grayish cone attached to it.

Stevonnie inspected it. The cone was hollow; the green band detached and could be opened with some difficulty. The more Stevonnie looked at it, the more it resembled a hollow gray cone welded onto a hard metal Alice band. Stevonnie settled it on their head, smirking at Lars, who snorted. "So…what is this?" asked Stevonnie, removing it and settling it in their palms.

"A translator," said Padparadscha. "I've set it to 'English to Homeworld', here." Padparadscha pointed to a spot just to the left of the gray cone, facing outwards. Stevonnie lifted it to their face; the green band did not have a display, switches, or anything to suggest that area controlled the device.

"Lean in," said Padparadscha. "Look closer."

Stevonnie brought the green band to their face; straining their eyes, the band hovered in and out of focus. Stevonnie brought the band away a little, and could see a series of intricate grooves etched into the band's surface. A tiny green peg could be slid through the grooves; Stevonnie supposed each stop was a different setting. "I can't use this." Said Stevonnie, lowering the acid green band.

Padparadscha's face wilted. "Why?"

"Because!" Stevonnie gestured at the almost-invisible sliding peg system on the green band. "How am I going to use it?" Stevonnie dug their thumb against the peg, trying to jam their fingernail under the peg to use as leverage.

Padparadscha held out their hand. Stevonnie ceased their efforts and forked the band over. Rhodonite literally craned her neck over to watch. In a way, it seemed like Rhodonite had replaced their neck with a thin burgundy lollipop stick to be able to watch them. "Y-you can come over here you know…" Stevonnie murmured.

"Oh no, I hafta stay over here just in case we get attacked," Rhodonite waved Stevonnie's suggestion away. "Just pretend I'm not here."

Padparadscha fiddled with the band a little, then handed it back to Stevonnie. "Don't touch the settings. Just wear it. If anyone asks, say you had an accident during a mission and your gear fused into your face." Her voice had lost its airy quality, becoming more flat and unimpressed.

Stevonnie accepted the band and apologized. The entire crew turned to watch as Stevonnie exerted their strength against the band, forcing the two jaws of the horse-shoe to open long enough to be slipped onto Stevonnie's face. Stevonnie set their mouth against the hollow gray cone, and let the metal relax slowly. The gray cone covered up Stevonnie's nose and mouth; the acid green arms of the device did not form a snug fit against Stevonnie's face.

The moment they removed their hands, the device slid down their nose. Stevonnie clapped their hands up against the cone to stop the whole thing from falling. They said, "Paddy, this thing doesn't fit."

"Umm…" Padparadscha began, raising a finger, but one of the Rutile twins leaned over the back of their chair. Stevonnie turned to face them, holding the device in place. The Rutile twins set their palms together, and pressed the cone into the slight gap between the two hands. Their thumbs hooked over and pressed down on the cone's top face. Their fingers dug into the band, which emitted a sharp clicking noise. With one smooth motion, the Rutile twins ran their fingers from the center of the band to the very tips.

Stevonnie felt the band shiver against their face. The arms slowly closed in, bending to fit the contours of Stevonnie's face. The tips of the arms curved around Stevonnie's ears, stretching and becoming less metallic and more rubbery. The tips came to rest just outside of Stevonnie's ears. The cone pumped out air from the space between Stevonnie's mouth and the cone's innards, forming a tight seal. Rutile stepped back, and Stevonnie removed their hands.

"It worked!" cheered Stevonnie, emitting a low metal-on-metal grating noise. All of the Gems barked out a series of musical chirps. "It worked!" they cheered.

"You look like the Terminator," groused Lars.


	15. Parallel Investigation, Part Three

With Stevonnie's new gadget, they could interact with their Homeworld surroundings in a way they could never before. They immediately returned to Homeworld, and set off in a new direction, through the long, dark, blue hallways.

This new direction terminated in a large station. A large sign in Homeworld's tongue marked the entrance of this place; Stevonnie could hear and speak in Homeworld, but they could not read or write.

Notwithstanding, Stevonnie explored the circular place. About ten stories tall, a series of large pale blue circles adorned the walls. Stevonnie walked up to one, and rapped their knuckles against it. A dull, hollow sound rung out. Stevonnie set their ear against the cold metal. Nothing.

Just to the left of each large circle a small pale blue rectangle jutted out. The shape roughly reminded Stevonnie of the pink hand shape at the Moon Base. Imitating Steven's actions then, Stevonnie placed one of their hands atop the pale blue rectangle.

The entire shape smoothly transitioned from pale blue to purple to brilliant red. Stevonnie removed their hand; the rectangle returned to its blue color. Several more tries yielded no different results-the rectangle would not operate.

A Chrysocolla entered the terminal. Noticing Stevonnie's struggles, she approached Stevonnie.

The Chrysocolla placed her hand atop the rectangle. It blinked twice, and the large blue circle opened, revealing a tunnel containing into a small transparent globe. "There it is," said Chrysocolla, gesturing at the transport pod. Before Stevonnie could enter, the Chrysocolla commented: "You must be new here."

"Really?" Stevonnie chuckled. "How could you tell?"

The Chrysocolla replied, "You haven't entered your physical form's ID into the register yet. If you had, that circle would have opened for you."

"So…how do I register?" asked Stevonnie.

"It's simple," said the Chrysocolla. "Simple leave the Terminal, take a left, then a right, and finally go straight at Pink Diamond's statue."

"Pi-nnnnnnkuhh!" blurted out Stevonnie, stopping themselves at the last moment. The Chrysocolla raised her eyes, her chin descending into her absurdly large collar. "Sorry," said Stevonnie. "I just…ah…"

The Chrysocolla's eyes flicked down to the translator Stevonnie wore. She let out a scoff, and walked over to a different blue pod, shooting Stevonnie a last look.

Stevonnie withdrew into the pod, and settled in one corner, wondering how offended the Chrysocolla was. "I wasn't scoffing or anything like that. I was just stumbling over my words, I-" Stevonnie continued along in this vein as the Vein Lift departed from the station, hovering through a thin blue vein.

The Vein Lift ended at another station, completely colored in varying shades of white. The change in color and mood dazzled Stevonnie; Blue Diamond's area had been dark, decked out in shades of blue. This place was amply lit with brilliant white lights lined along the ceiling, and in white lines snaking through the walls and floor.

Another contrast: Blue Diamond's Court had a more dignified air, with only a few Gems here and there to be seen flitting through the hallways. When Stevonnie left their pod, they landed in a sea of Gems, several of whom really wanted to get into Stevonnie's pod. From the sea of faces, a knobbly hand grabbed Stevonnie and tugged them out. Several of the waiting Gems immediately took Stevonnie's place, jostling to board. The sheer amount of traffic in the hallways and corridors boggled Stevonnie. Not a single place was without a Gem.

Stevonnie followed the traffic along for a while, descending the building as the traffic became less and less. As Stevonnie descended, they noticed their surroundings became more and more constricted; eventually, the halls terminated in twin spiral staircases, down and down. Stevonnie chose one and descended.

"I wish there was a rail…" muttered Stevonnie aloud. "I could go-WOOSH-right down the bannister-like a BOSS-"

The staircase terminated in a 10 foot diameter circle. The only noticeable feature of the room was a trapdoor. Stevonnie hooked their fingers underneath, and lifted it up. The staircase continued, this time it spiraled down to a floor 50 feet below. Huge machines filled the space between floor and ceiling with the sound of hydraulics. As they hurtled down the staircase, taking the steps two at a time, Stevonnie gazed at the massive machines and wondered what their purpose was.

Homeworld writing graced the white sides of the machines, and here and there the machines bared a glimpse of metal. Other than that, Stevonnie could not tell why the machines were there, or why they were so huge.

Stevonnie wandered through the maze the machines made, sword drawn. After a little while, they came upon a strange outline set in the white metal wall behind the machines. Staring at it, Stevonnie had a sudden flash of their dad, Greg.

A long time ago, in Steven's memories, Greg had been dancing wildly inside the newly constructed Beach House. Steven perched atop a box, and laughed incessantly, pointing at Greg and hooting. "I'm fabulous, aren't I, Steven?" boasted Greg, attempting a tap dance.

The way Greg flailed his arms and bounced on his legs like a demented crab was so amusing, Steven laughed even harder. Greg added a series of tiny jumps, then careened around and around on one leg, fanning his hair out. "Ta-daaa!" shrieked Greg, voice begninng to grow hoarse.

Greg finished his routine with a complex series of moves called "Chase of the Lion and Zebra". A complex dance routine of Greg's own invention, Greg zoomed around and around Steven, whooping and twirling like a top. Steven tried his best to follow Greg, spinning around and around and losing balance. He fell off the box. Greg stopped abruptly striking a fabulous pose. He suspended his arms above his head like a ballerina and arched his back, thrusting a leg behind him-CRASH-right through the freshly painted wall.

"Eep." Said Greg. Steven screeched with laughter.

"Stew-ball!" said Greg in reproach. "Sorry, Dad," twittered Steven.

"G-get me some white paint and wallpaper, OK?"

"Okie." Steven rushed to do his father's bidding, and returned promptly. Greg accepted the materials, and hastily stuffed the wall up with scraps of carpet, ends of sawed boards, twisted lumps of tape that had touched itself before use, and good old crappy jeans. Greg put the icing on the garbage cake with tough old booger-colored masking tape. "Great!" crowed Greg. "And now…" He dipped a wiry old paintbrush in the dirty white paint, and covered everything up.

Greg stepped back. "What do you think, Steven?"

Steven gazed at the patch job. The paint had started to run down off the tape, like melting ice cream. "I can see it, Dad."

"Kggrh!" grunted Greg. "Stupid old wall!" Greg dashed away, and returned soon with a careful cut piece of white wallpaper. Greg slapped it over the gap, and held it in place.

"Ok. Now Stew-ball, come over here."

Steven did.

"This is the most important piece of the operation. Take that paintbrush and _slowly_ paint over the walpaper edges. Think you can do it?" Steven nodded again, and slowly painted over the edges, while Greg provided a constant stream of encouragement. "Ok, ok, very good Steven. Very good-oh! Put a little more of there-yeah, right there. Great! Now the other side…".

The tape let the wallpaper cling to the wall, and once the paint dried, the wall almost looked normal. Steven could still see where the paint connected the wallpaper to the wall…

…Just as Stevonnie could see the messy patch job of a chunk of metal sliced from the rest, and careful put back. Stevonnie approached the wall, glancing over their shoulders to make certain no one had snuck up on them. Stevonnie took a fingernail, and dragged it against the messy line. White flakes of paint (if that really was paint) tore off the messy line easily. Stevonnie used all ten of their fingers to rake off the paint from the metal. Soon they could see a hairline crack, running up…across…then down. Stevonnie blew the flakes from the crack, and stepped back.

Stevonnie's fingers could not fit in such a crack as they normally were. Stevonnie set their fingernails against the crack, and willed them to shapeshift. Nothing happened. Stevonnie tried again, thinking of flat metal sheets and how they really wanted their fingers to become flat metal sheets. The tips of their fingers turned gray, then slowly elongated. "Yes!" gasped Stevonnie, excited.

As soon as their fingertips became long enough, Stevonnie inserted her fingers into both sides of the crack and leveraged the plate out. The left side began to inch out; the right side stayed put. Stevonnie focused all their attention on the left side, and soon, the metal slab opened smoothly, like a door opens. Stevonnie's fingers stopped lengthening dramatically, but continued to grow, micrometer by micrometer. Stevonnie did not stop to shift their fingers back; they were too excited. Unsheathing their sword, they bounded into the hole in the wall.

The hole in the wall blossomed out into a large laboratory; its sides narrowed into a short table. A short, lustrous, silvery-white Gem stood just behind the door. Her hands rested upon a flat iron slab. As Stevonnie entered, the Gem spun around swung the slab into Stevonnie's waist.


	16. Parallel Investigation, Part-END

One second striding through the door, the next sprawled on the floor. Stevonnie groaned at the pain, clutching their waist as their skin deformed, tamping the organs within. Using the momentum as they fell, Stevonnie hit the ground with their shoulder, the flat of the sword tucked against their side, and rolled away from their assailant.

The Gem, off-balance by the rebound of the metal slab against Stevonnie's stomach, had fallen. She scrambled to her feet quickly, lugging the iron slab behind her. Stevonnie could roll no faster, having been temporarily incapacitated by the first strike, unexpected as it was. The Gem screamed as she swung the metal slab up, over her head, and right down at Stevonnie's stomach.

Stevonnie rolled a half-turn, bringing the sword slab-side up. Thousands of capillaries burst as slab and blade met in a shower of sparks, smashing against Stevonnie's waist, knocking them against the unyielding metal floor. Again the slab bounced off, knocking the Gem right in the nose. The Gem screeched and let go of the slab. It danced along its edge, hurtling over the tables lining the edges and embedding itself in the wall.

Stevonnie used the hand closest to the ground to propel themselves away and onto their feet, blade dragging at their side. Facing the assailant Gem, Stevonnie breathed in deeply and summoned their shield. Opening their mouth to talk, Stevonnie hacked up a cough, their sides exploding in pain. Stevonnie hammered their shield against the floor, rallying themselves.

The assailant Gem seized the iron slab from the wall, and bent it over itself six times to form a thick, cylinder-like pipe. Stevonnie glared at the Gem's face. An unknown creator had rudely hewn out features resembling a human's face. A low gash for a mouth, two jabs for eyes (three scratches above one eye resembled eyelashes), two slashes each for ears and nose-that was the Gem's face. In a contrast to the face, the Gem's body was well-made, with pitted, distinct limbs and torso. At first blush, the body resembled a human's but the bulges and curves that a human would have were misplaced on this Gem. The corner of a human's elbow was too far down, the wrists and palms too wide, the hump of muscles just below the back of the knee, just above the ankle in this Gem.

The hands were seven fingered, with no fingernails. Stevonnie could not quite tell where the Gem's clothes ended and began-the Gem's clothes were an identical color to their skin, a peachy white. The Plutonium's Gem was a silvery-white, hunk of metal the size of a fist and the shape of a fan. Dark black lines shot from the tip of the fan-shaped Gem to spiral and dance across the Gem's ends.

As Stevonnie studied the Plutonium, they held their shield close in a defensive position, back against the desks lining the wall, sword pointed out. The Plutonium stayed still, limbs relaxed, hands only loosely holding their metal slab.

"Stop staring!" barked the Plutonium, in Homeworld's language. "It's rude!"

Stevonnie did not respond quick enough. The Plutonium continued to speak. "Well, flabby half-Gem monster? Are you an agent of Yellow Diamond, come to destroy My Diamond?"

"No!" yelled Stevonnie, louder than they meant to.

"An agent of Blue Diamond?"

"I'm no Homeworld Gem!" protested Stevonnie loudly, adjusting their grip on Rose's sword. If the Plutonium decided to attack them suddenly, they had to be ready.

The Plutonium stayed still, head tilted on their shoulders. "An agent of Pink Diamond?"

"She's dead," said Stevonnie, "So I can't be working for her, can I?"

The Plutonium spoke, this time in English. "A Rebellion agent, then!" The Plutonium hefted her crude weapon in both hands, heaving it behind her back. She sprinted across the distance between her and Stevonnie, bringing down the metal slab upon Stevonnie in a mighty blow.

As she did, Stevonnie tilted their shield upwards, smoothly crouching underneath its pink lip. As the shield left the ground, Stevonnie swept their sword back and hacked at the Plutonium's thick ankles. The sword bit into the Plutonium's left ankle, removing a chunk of white, powdery material as the sword came loose. The metal slab came down upon Rose's shield, crushing Stevonnie into the ground again. They resisted the push with their bent knee, shoving the Plutonium away.

The Plutonium hurtled forward and away from Stevonnie, assisted by the rebound of the metal plate upon Rose's shield. She smashed into the far wall, and slowly rolled over onto her back. Stevonnie copy-catted the Plutonium, rising up and slamming the lip of Rose's shield into the supine Plutonium's stomach. Stevonnie removed the shield easily, tearing forth a goodly amount of powdery material from the Plutonium's stomach.

In return, the Plutonium swept a powerful leg savagely at Stevonnie's unprotected ankles. Stevonnie tilted backwards, trying to open up some distance between themselves and the Plutonium, but they were too close to clear the blow completely. The Plutonium's thick ankle met Stevonnie's left ankle, colliding in a shower of powder. Stevonnie screamed and fell down squarely on their butt, legs flailing in the air.

Stevonnie crumpled their ankles up to their stomach, glancing at the angry red-and-white flesh. The ankle had not yet begun to bleed, but the damage had still been dealt. A two-inch patch of skin had been removed along with the hair, showing gristly gray-and-white cartilage. Flaps of translucent and pale brown skin ringed the skinned area; like Steven peeling an apple, Plutonium had skinned Stevonnie's ankle. As they stood, they also discovered the leg bone just above the ankle was most likely fractured.

Plutonium recovered soon after delivering the painful blow. She stood in a hunchback position, watching Stevonnie wail over their ankle some feet away, one hand still on their shield. Seizing ahold of their metal plate, Plutonium charged forward for another blow.

Almost on top of Stevonnie, Plutonium's head yanked sharply upwards propelled by the sheer force of an uppercut. Her jaw dislodged, hanging limp from one hinge, almost knocking her unconscious. From a shortened, dark tunnel of vision, Plutonium watched as Stevonnie planted they sword in the ground, using it as a crutch. She watched as Stevonnie limped rapidly over to her and stomped their good foot down on their head-once twice, darkening the tunnel of their vision. Plutonium lay still.

Stevonnie stumbled backwards instantly after their attack, retreating halfway across the room. They reassumed a defensive stance, shakier than before. They kneeled with their good leg, sinking their bad leg's knee into the metal floor. The ankle trembled and bled slowly, encouraged to do so by Stevonnie's efforts.

With the brief respite, Stevonnie took the moment to calm themselves a bit, and think back to their previous fights and Connie's fights with Pearl for strategy.

"But this Gem doesn't have a sword, they have a CLUB!" one part of Stevonnie yelled. "What good will be Pearl's instructions now?"

"They'll be fine! Club, rapier, whatever! It's all the same, right?" another part of Stevonnie screamed back, countering the other.

"No matter what, we won't die here!" one said.

"Of course not!" said the first part of Stevonnie to speak. "Who said anything about dying?"

A familiar feeling began to steal over Stevonnie, like that time at Sour Cream's rave. Stevonnie struggled against the urge to panic and just run at the Plutonium, and better yet, to just run away.

Speaking of the Plutonium…a far worse scenario popped up in Stevonnie's head, silencing all others. "Did I kill her? She's awfully still…"

The Plutonium lay as Stevonnie's attacks had left her. She did not move. Worried, Stevonnie considered breaking their stance to go check the Plutonium's condition. Despite the ferocity of the Plutonium's attacks, Stevonnie did not want to kill the Gem.

As they took a step forward, Stevonnie had a flashback to Lonely Blade-the heroic ninja, so good and true, mortally injures his brother. Always good-hearted, he runs to his brother's aid-to discover his evil, cunning brother had been playing possum!

Stevonnie nodded to themselves, wincing in pain as the raw muscles of their ankle burned in the open air. "Riiight…they might just be playing dead." In addition, whenever a Gem like Pearl got hit too much, she poofed. But this one looked too solid, more solid than Pearl…

Unwilling to approach the Plutonium too closely, and also unwilling to let the Gem die, Stevonnie shuffled over to left, away from the supine Plutonium. Observing the Plutonium's head was tilted away, Stevonnie set their sword reached behind themselves, and settled her hand around a long metal rod with a clamp on the end. Stevonnie could only guess it was used to pick up materials at a distance.

Stevonnie picked up the rod, and jabbed Plutonium with it. Plutonium spun around, seizing the metal rod, and pulling Stevonnie in, towards her. Stevonnie let Plutonium pull them, and swung their shield up and down in a backhand blow. The shield's lip smashed into the bridge of Plutonium's nose, denting it.

Stevonnie lifted the shield with both hands and bludgeoned Plutonium with it until her face was unrecognizable.


	17. Check!

Stevonnie did not linger in the room for very long. As if a dense fog surrounded them, they tottered around, collecting papers, computer files, and photos, whatever they might need to analyse later. Stevonnie wrapped up the package tightly within a scrap canvas, using a metal shard to sew up the package. Stevonnie fastened the package to their clothes, sewing the top edge together with their shorts. Once finished, Stevonnie played the medic, patching over their more serious wounds with spit. Once finished, Stevonnie exited the room, rolling their muscles and readying themselves.

The white machines continued to work in the background, rising and falling gently, providing the room with a soothing thrumming noise. Against this backdrop, off-white statutes of varying size and colour littered the maze the machine made.

A spike of heat erupted in Stevonnie's chest. Though the statues did not move, Stevonnie did not doubt they were enemies. Most were humanoid, but with pitted and scarred limbs. Stevonnie could recognize arms and legs, but all lacked visible eyes or mouths. Many had extra limbs.

Kaolinites, Quicklimes, and many other oxide-type Gems surrounded the area, dotted here and there, motionless and deformed. The Gem closest to Stevonnie was a Xenon Tetroxide 40 feet away, covered with a thin white film, behind an Osmium Tetroxide.

From the very back, a Gem strode forward. As it approached, Stevonnie recognized it as an Arsenic Trioxide. It did not have a Gem as Stevonnie did, per se; instead a lump of compound was firmly embedded in its headless chest. In its fingerless hands, it carried a lump on a short, thick stalk. The lump bore slashes similar to Plutonium's. Stevonnie could only assume that was its head.

The Arsenic Trioxide stopped 30 feet away, and bent. It rolled its head forward, coming to rest 10 feet from Stevonnie. The headless body stepped back, to blend in with the rest. The head spoke, accompanied by a chorus behind it: "Welcome to Our Mining Facility, Steven. We see you have brought an unexpected guest. Introduce us."

Stevonnie resisted the urge to check if their packet was firmly attached to their shorts. "Do you mean Connie? We're Stevonnie right now, Leader of the Crystal Gems!"

"Well met, Stevonnie. We are what remains of White Diamond's Compound Analysis Project. White Diamond, She of the Many Eyes and Dazzling Complexity, She Who Weaves Networks and Joins Parts into a Whole, is on Her way. She is looking forward to a healthy bout with you. We will keep you company until She arrives, so please look forward to it."

After the announcement, the Arsenic Trioxide reclaimed its head, and melted back into the crowd. Not a single other Gem moved. The crowd kept its distance. 50 feet in the air, near the top of one of the white machines, a pink circle opened up, but the white of the machine swallowed it up.

Lion must be trying to get me out of here. Stevonnie decided to wait until Lion made a portal close enough to run into. They tried asking some questions to buy Lion some time. "Did White Diamond do this to you?"

"This?" asked the Oxide Gems as a whole.

"You know!" Stevonnie wiggled their sword tip at them. "What happened to your arms? Your legs? Your bodies?"

"Oh, this? It's nothing special. We were 'born' with it," replied the collective.

"Who were you created by?" asked Stevonnie. Lion poked his head out of another portal. Stevonnie took a few steps to the left, trying to approach it. Come on Lion! Make the portals closer! The Oxide Gems came forward, walking with Stevonnie. Stevonnie was just too far away to make a run for it and not get caught.

"White Diamond," said the Gems. "We are failed fusion experiments, waiting to be fixed."

"Failed, like the Cluster?"

"No, the Cluster came far after us," said the Gems.

50 feet in the air, Lion's head stuck out of his latest portal. He gazed at Stevonnie. Stevonnie tried to wink at him in a way that suggested he come down, without actually looking at him. Lion sneezed, and withdrew his head in right before the a wave of white surfaced from the machine and collapsed the portal.

Were the mining machines interfering with Lion's portals?

Another voice spoke, from the very back of the lot. "We now know that fusion is a mingling of two Gems' light forms. But back then, we thought the Gems themselves would combine, as a compound."

A laugh rang out, like shattering glass. "That was wrong, of course."

"We can fix you!" Stevonnie spat on their hand. "With my healing spit!"

The crowd of Oxide Gems did not move, but said, "Separation is the cure."

The voice at the back of the crowd rang out, "I'm ready to play! What do you want to do, Stevonnie? Chase? Run and go seek?"

The crowd began to move forward, at a leisurely pace. Stevonnie hurtled forward, leaping up and into the air, vaulting off an incoming Oxide Gem. Stevonnie shot up into the air, halfway to the ceiling. At the apex of their jump, Stevonnie halted their descent, floating in the air. Slowly, Stevonnie began to float to the ground. Stevonnie tucked their legs and arms in a little, turning in the air. With their head pointing down to the ground, Stevonnie spread eagle, gazing down at the soldier Gems.

The crowd slowly spread out, distributing the soldiers evenly over the mining facility floor. The soldiers directly underneath Stevonnie gazed upwards at them. It did not seem as if the Oxide Gems had any long range weapons. That's sorta dumb. Do they have any weapons at all? Come to think of it, Stevonnie didn't recall that Plutonium summoning any weapon either.

Three soldiers tried to scale the tall machines-the Gems' blunt claws gained no purchase on those behemoths' smooth sides and small cracks. Stevonnie, close to one such machine, reached out and seized hold of a tiny crack. Their fingers, still elongated from the earlier lock picking, fit in the crack nicely.

Stevonnie turned their attention back to the soldiers down below. Directly underneath them stood a skeleton-pale Gem, with bushy, spiky hair and skin that seemed to scintillate like a diamond under a harsh white light. The Gem, while more humanoid than those surrounding her, had no mouth or eyes but well-defined fingers, arms and legs.

Stevonnie shot their gaze around. Lion had not made another appearance, and as far as Stevonnie could gather, the mining facility had only one exit: the entrance. Stevonnie lay quite a distance from the entrance, however.

Hmmm…what if I dropped to the ground and ran…? The Gems had distributed themselves evenly over the floor. Stevonnie reckoned they could battle their way through the thinly distributed Gems. Those far away ones would take some time to reach wherever Stevonnie was.

But was there an easier way? I got it! Stevonnie had a flash of inspiration. They shimmied their fingers around, traveling clockwise around the machine until they faced the entrance. By my guess, I should hit the staircase about ¾ of the way to the top. Plenty of time to escape. Cool. Stevonnie flipped their hands around in the crack, then flipped their whole body, so their feet touched the machine. Withdrawing their fingers from the crack, Stevonnie kicked the machine as hard as they could, propelling themselves forward.

This is a lot slower than I thought. To Stevonnie's irritation, they floated through space at a leisurely pace, a tad quicker than the slow soldiers below. A thundering sound startled Stevonnie-the soldiers below clapped their hands as they pursued her. The Gems closest to the staircase began to climb it. What, is this some kind of game to them?

Stevonnie dogpaddled their arms and kicked their legs, struggling to swim through the air faster. Despite their efforts, they reached the middle of the steel staircase with the soldiers being ¼ of the way up-lower and slower than Stevonnie had expected.

Well, whatever. I didn't think things would go exactly the way I wanted. But this is good enough-I can get out, and take a peek at these stolen goodies. Stevonnie referred to the stolen documents of White Diamond.

Stevonnie leaped and bounded upwards, reaching the hatch with a good padding of space between them and the soldiers. Chortling, Stevonnie cracked their knuckles, and spared a glance down below. The soldiers had just reached the halfway mark on the staircase-on solid ground, Stevonnie could outdistance them any time. Stevonnie latched their ring fingers around the hatch's latch, and yanked downwards.

The trapdoor opened down an inch before something heavy shoved upwards, against Stevonnie, forcing it closed again. A white fluid, like white chocolate, dripped out of the gap between hatch and roof. Are there soldiers up there too? How did I get found out? I don't think anyone saw me, and there were no cameras…

Stevonnie pulled harder, anchoring their legs against the railing, but no dice. After a moment, Stevonnie suddenly let go. The hatch did not fall open as Stevonnie expected-whoever was up there had been expecting a trick like that. Stevonnie laid a hand on Rose's sword, then glanced down. The soldiers crawled upwards, ¾ of the way up the staircase. The Gems' bodies weighed so much, they could only take the stairs one step at a time, make a full stop, and then go up another step.

Unsheathing their sword, Stevonnie thrust the blade up, stabbing into the roof around the hatch. With a good deal of effort, Stevonnie valiantly sawed through the tough metal roof. Flakes of white roof and a shower of powder rained down on Stevonnie. They squinted their eyes and snorted through their nostrils to clear the nasty material.

Halfway around the hatch, a large plaster-coloured Gem tramped up the stairs, three steps away from Stevonnie. Stevonnie had stopped their chop job and now awaited the Gem's arrival. Letting the sword stick in the ceiling, Stevonnie kicked the Gem in the face, knocking it into the soldiers behind it. The rest of the line shuddered but did not fall.

Stevonnie did not wait for the Gem to recover. They strode forward, ground their heel down and kicked the Gem again in the chest, face, and kneecaps, knocking them down. The Gem roared and flailed as it fell, knocking against the Gem behind it. The line of soldiers staggered and fell in the stairway. Stevonnie shoved their shoulder against the fallen Gems, throwing them off-balance again.

Stevonnie returned to their sawing.

Just as the Gems recovered again, Stevonnie finished sawing around the hatch. The circle stayed in place—it would need to be tugged out. Stevonnie spun around to battle the soldiers in the stairway.

In such close quarters, a swordfighting would not be ideal. The soldiers were slow, clumsy, and big. Stevonnie had the advantage, as long as they had enough room to dodge and fight. Now what they needed to do was create that room.

Stevonnie slipped the sword from the wall and brought the hilt down on the Gem's head. It fell down again. A Silver Oxide right behind it shoved it to the side, and lunged forward to pin Stevonnie against the ground. Stevonnie leaped up onto the Silver Oxide's back, pushing it against the staircase.

As it tried to get up, Stevonnie shoved it back, giving them some space. Stevonnie bashed the next Gem in the face with their shield until they fell, trampling whatever Gems had become trapped beneath it. White powder flew from the wounds Stevonnie inflicted.

Stevonnie kicked the face of the soldier on the ground, sliding her back down, tripping up the next soldiers. Gaining space, Stevonnie continued to shove down the soldiers. It seemed more and more likely these "soldiers" had never seen real battles. As Stevonnie hit them once, twice, they tried to turn around and run, further compacting their comrades within the staircase. A few even climbed over the railings to escape the crush.

One or two enterprising individuals tried to ambush Stevonnie by climbing up the outside of the staircase, but Stevonnie could hear them as they climbed. They cursed and let their bodies scrape against the steel-Stevonnie knocked the soldiers away from them without a second thought.

One fell off the staircase, plummeting down over 40 feet.

The soldiers stopped trying to storm Stevonnie, and gazed down, letting out a collective gasp. When the Gem hit the ground, their body exploded in a shower of white powder and flakes. Stevonnie's heart fell as they scanned the area, hoping the Gem had not been shattered.

Unlike a real Homeworld battalion, the soldiers joined Stevonnie in watching for their comrade. Not a one made a move to use the distraction to jump them. Once the powder cleared, Stevonnie could see the white Gem from before gazing at a pile of powder and flakes. Sifting through the mess, the Gem produced a large hunk of Aluminium Oxide. The Oxide Gems on the staircase jumped and celebrated, clapping their hands and chit-chatting with themselves. Stevonnie took the opportunity to wrench the circle they'd cut off the roof. Stevonnie leaped up the stairs, covering themselves with their shield.

Not a soul stood in the staircase leading up. Then…who was stopping me from exiting? Confused, Stevonnie took the stairs two at a time, ascending the right twin of the spiral staircases. Soon they reached the joint, where the main staircase split into the two twins. Stevonnie opened the door to the small room, and shut it.

They stayed by the door for a moment, listening for pursuers, but there were none.

Stevonnie had reached the empty white halls of the Feet of White Diamond's building. Now they needed to leave the building itself. Stevonnie ran through the halls, surveying the ever-widening ways for other Gems. There was no one.

Stevonnie muttered over and over to themselves: Up the stairs, left, right, middle, through the double doors, up the elevators six floors, then to the Vein Lifts…All throughout Stevonnie's escape, no other Gems made an appearance. Where there had once been bustling crowds, there were none. Tellers and receptionists, secretaries and porters lining the walls had all abandoned their posts. The doors, locked; the halls, blocked.

I'm being shepherded. Stevonnie slid to a halt. I'm going…where someone wants me to go. Stevonnie gazed around the hall they were in, eyes alighting on a door. They tugged and pulled on it, but it would not budge. Every single other door was similarly fastened. Stevonnie could go only one of two ways: back to the mining facility under the building's feet, or…up, to wherever that shadow person wanted Stevonnie to go.

Armed with that knowledge, Stevonnie proceeded carefully. They tried every door, every hallway, every tunnel, but no. Stevonnie could go only one way. This way happened to be the exact way Stevonnie had taken to get down to the mining facility in the first place. Was I being watched? Stevonnie wondered. How else could they know the way I went down?

The path diverged at the Vein Lifts out of White Diamond's Building. A huge transparent glass shutter had been drawn over the terminal. Stevonnie had been blocked. Drawing out their sword, they smacked the glass. Opposite the transparent shutter lay a massive mirror set into the wall.

Stevonnie inspected the mirror, running their hand over its smooth surface. Maybe someone's watching me behind this. Stevonnie placed their ear against the mirror. Behind it, they could hear a whispering sound, almost like giggling.

A little movement caught Stevonnie's eye. Stevonnie stopped bothering with the glass, and turned their attention to the movement. A stream of black liquid dribbled down the left wall, four feet away from where the glass shutter met the wall. Stevonnie's eyes travelled left and right, down the hallway. More and more dribbles of solid white and solid fluid trickled down. The flow down the left, descending, corridor, grew heavier, pooling on the floor. As the white and black fluids met, they mingled together to give the appearance of molten marble.

Stevonnie swept their head to the shutter, and down the right, ascending hall. Should they try to escape via Vein Lift and leave the building, or ascend White Diamond's building further?

Chunks of the left roof plummeted down, letting streams of white flow out. Stevonnie turned and ran full pelt up the ascending corridors. As they ran, the walls burst from the fluid pressure. Stevonnie reached out and doused their hand in the molten marble. The white-and-black fluid was viscous and strangely warm. It fell off of Stevonnie's hand, almost as if it had been magnetically repelled from their skin.

Stevonnie finally came to a full stop. Through a small side door lay a thin bridge over a massive chasm. White crystals winked at Stevonnie down below; if they fell, they'd surely incur massive injuries, or die. Stevonnie had thought the white stuff would all drain into the chasm. It didn't.

A wave shot out of the door like a gun, engulfing Stevonnie in the stuff. The black-and white fluid flowed over Stevonnie, hardening into a coffin, locking them in place with only a few centimetres of space between them and the hard solid.

The marbled fluid receded from the coffin, revealing its rectangular shape. After a moment, the rippling waters bore it along its currents, to the triumphant hands of White Diamond. Coffin in hand, White Diamond displayed the white and black case to her retainers. The White Sapphires, Zircons, Agates, Pearls, all of those assorted retainers clapped, for their Diamond, the Great White Diamond alone, had captured Stevonnie.


	18. Reminiscence-An Uneasy Decision

I don't think I've been this excited for the upcoming chapters since I started writing this thing.

* * *

When Rose travelled to the small human hamlet, the Gems learned of a "cursed place". A deep trough in the rolling hills emerged with the departure of the winter; the local humans believed evil would flow forth from its gaping maw. This place would devour those foolish enough to go near. At first, Pearl and Rose believed the cursed hill to be Homeworld mischief, but it was not so.

After a good deal of persuasion, a few humans led Rose to the place-a hole 20 feet wide, nestled amongst strange stone carvings. A strong draft issued forth, scraping against the rough tunnel sides, creating eerie noises. Squeaks, chirps, and a steady low-pitched howling-Pearl could see how a superstitious human might think the hole led to a demon's nest. Rose entered without a thought. Pearl followed, and that marked the discovery of the Grid Cave.

Pearl suspected that unless entered by Lion's teleportation or by the hole in the ground, the Grid Cave did not exist where it should. She had sent a probe down into the ground above where the cave system should have been, but found nothing but good soil.

Down an impossibly long, impossibly vertical shaft, the Grid Cave opened up into a system of gray rock paths on either side of a massive black chasm. Unseen lights always illuminated the cave, casting an even light that seemed to remove the shadows from the paths. Every here and there, strange copper and bronze-colored machines lay embedded into the walls. Pipes snaked between the machines, diving in and out of the cave walls. Rose had never elaborated on the machines' purpose, although Pearl knew she wanted to investigate someday.

Rose sealed the tunnel with one of the strangely-carved stones flanking the hole, and applied a sealant and lock to ensure only Gems could open that hole. The humans celebrated the removal of the evil, and Rose celebrated the discovery of a new means of transportation-unlike a warp pad, this cave's teleportation did not leave a detectable trace and could teleport a great many more objects than a warp pad at once.

At the end of the cave lay a dazzling white hole. All one had to do was think of a destination, and one would be ejected at that place. You could exit to wherever you pleased. Rose doted upon the dreary cavern. Sometimes, she would station whole battalions at the sealed entrance of the cavern, to be teleported into the middle of Homeworld's armies.

pOutside of Rose's pyramid (the humans had built one just for her), Lion had arrived to teleport away Pearl and her fellow Commanders to the Grid Cave. Just before they set out, Garnet asked Lion: "Is the informant waiting for us?"/p

Lion nodded. Pearl scowled. "Of course she is! She's completely trustworthy! I trained her myself!"

Garnet said, "I wasn't doubting your informant, Pearl. I meant to ask if Lion had teleported her and her materials to the entrance yet."

Pearl let the matter drop.

Once inside the cave, Pearl brought up the rear of their party, brandishing her spear and a stabilizer case. Most often employed by spies, a stabilizer could be used to assume and maintain a detailed transformation for a long time.

At the end of the caverns, her informant awaited them. Accompanying the informant, only just behind her, lay several gray blurs, obscured by the white fog pouring from the exit. Pearl did not need to know what the things were to realize there lay the vehicles to victory.

Such an opportunity would never arise again. The Crystal Commanders had met Pink Diamond once in battle, and she had laid waste to the lands, flora and fauna, ignoring the soldiers and the commanders. The appearance of Pink Diamond had been alarming. Up until now, Blue Diamond the Aristocrat had been heading Earth operations. Her activities on Earth mainly revolved around defeating the Rebels as quickly as possible, without destroying the colony.

Blue Diamond had made several mistakes, however, chief among them allowing the Rebels to steal away a prized Sapphire and losing many Homeworld-grown soldiers. Did Pink Diamond's personal appearance on Earth mean she had taken control over the Earth Rebellion?

Pink Diamond's appearance on Earth could foretell a change of leadership, one which would make defending from Homeworld all the harder. The Rebellion had enough trouble with Homeworld's soldiers; a Diamond herself could not be allowed to enter the fray. Whatever Rose's personal attachments and mixed feelings were, Pink Diamond needed to be dealt with. Perhaps killed, perhaps not. But she could not be left with free rein.

Pearl felt disgusted. Thinking back to before Rose and Pearl had broken away from Homeworld, Rose had been very close to Pink Diamond. She more she dwelled on the subject, the more instances she could draw up from her memory. Rose carrying around Pink Diamond's stuff, Rose just tagging along as Pink Diamond gave orders and made personal visits to the soldiers (who all were emso happy/em to their beloved emtyrant/em), Rose just standing around and gazing at Pink Diamond just as Pearl gazed at Rose.

Garnet did not wish to believe that Rose had any more loyalty to Pink Diamond, but knew this was not exactly true. She chose a middle ground-though Rose may still love Pink Diamond, Rose would always do the right thing in the end. After all…her love for Pink Diamond had not stopped her from punching holes in Blue Diamond's rule over Earth or from rebelling in the first place. Therefore, Rose had another reason for being hesitant to strike against Pink Diamond directly.

Biggs Jasper did not have any opinion. There was never a doubt in the stolid Agate's mind-whatever Rose decided, she would do. And that was that. Surely, as Rose's trusted Commanders, they could solve a problem that Rose could not bring herself to solve.

Crazy Lace felt happy from the bottom of her heart. Rose had always been such a softie, easily pushed around (in her opinion, at least). Although Crazy Lace did have to give her Commander some leeway. The disappearance of Bismuth had hit them all hard-Crazy Lace especially. The two often thought alike.

Antimony, leading the party, knew that Rose and Pink Diamond had been very close. Like Pearl, she had tagged along behind Rose for the longest; unlike Pearl, she had followed Rose and Pink Diamond one night. She had heard how Rose tried to persuade Pink Diamond to join her against the other Diamonds.

Of course it did not work.

In any case, Antimony reasoned, it is easy to avoid a problem, but when the problem goes thundering through your camps and excavates a chunk of Earth the size of a meteorite blast, it can be avoided no longer.

Bismuth had once told Antimony of a special weapon she had been making. "We'll give those Diamonds another taste of what's coming to them!" Bismuth had said. Antimony had expressed her severe doubt that Rose would sanction such a plan-Rose did not enjoy killing. Bismuth had scoffed, and told Antimony to just wait. Bismuth had died before she could finish her project.

Her death had affected all the Crystal Gems, especially Rose, and Pink Diamond's sudden appearance had exacerbated the problem. Rose had withdrawn deep into her pyramid, trying to come up with a way to triumph against Homeworld without killing her " _dearest friend_ " or needlessly destroying Homeworld soldiers.

The Commanders had let Rose stew by herself. Now, though, Pearl and Antimony proposed to them all that they take matters into their own hands. Rose would thank them later.

One morning, Antimony and the other commanders clustered at Rose's pyramid, to force her to make a decision. Rose had once tried to assassinate Blue Diamond, and had been driven back. Rose had infiltrated the heart of Blue Diamond's entourage, but Pearl had learned of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a clear shot at Pink Diamond.

In light of this, Pearl made their situation clear to Rose: Pink Diamond could no longer live. No other Diamond had ever descended personally to ravage the Earth. Pink Diamond's first attack had destroyed a massive chunk of the Earth, and dealt a terrible blow to the soldiers' morale. The Crystal Gems would not tolerate any more blows against the planet they swore to protect. It was time for Pink Diamond disappear.

Rose shot that down immediately. "No. If I have more time, I can think of a way to capture Pink Diamond. We don't have to shatter her!"

Antimony sighed. "Rose, you know that's not feasible."

Garnet uncrossed her arms, and asked Rose: "Why do you not want us to kill her so badly, Rose?"

Rose ground her teeth together. "I don't want to capture her out of any softer feelings. My chief concern is that if we assassinate Pink Diamond, the Diamonds will retaliate against us. Their desire to kill us all will outweigh their desire to keep this colony intact."

Rose continued, "I believe that the Diamonds have something else up their sleeve, a last resort."

Pearl proclaimed, "No matter what ace they have, we can still destroy the Diamonds and win this war!" An idea popped into her head, and she continued: "Pink Diamond has come down because Blue Diamond has been suffering a string of defeats. We can't afford to let this opportunity go!"

Rose sighed. "I can't help but feel like this is the wrong thing to do."

Antimony poked Pearl in the ribs. Time for Plan Two. Antimony stepped right under her Rose's nose. She was so short, Rose had to bend her head down to properly see her. Rose's shaded eyes bored into Antimony's compound eyes - from up close, Antimony could see how tired and miserable her Commander was. "Let us capture her, Rose! We will try our best, but if we can't, we'll just hurt her so bad, she'll have to return to Homeworld! After all, didn't you and Pearl nearly capture Blue Diamond?"

Rose thought a minute. "Pink Diamond and Blue Diamond are two different Gems, with different strengths and weaknesses."

"Besides, we don't know when she will return to Earth. Didn't she leave Earth after her rampage?" She looked to Crazy Lace for confirmation. "I find that to be odd."

Pearl decided to reveal their new information. "Rose, we have a chance to gain access to Pink Diamond all by herself, without her normal bodyguards or retainers. I have an informant, very close to Pink Diamond, My informant has told us that Pink Diamond is coming to Earth again, and will arrive within ten hours."

"What?" asked Rose, sharp as a whip.

Garnet spoke, "Exactly! No matter how powerful Pink Diamond is, we can still capture her if she's by herself! A Lone Diamond is no match for all Crystal Commanders at once."

After an hour of deliberation, Rose allowed all the Crystal Commanders to capture, cripple, or at last resort only, kill, Pink Diamond. Rose herself elected to stay behind in her pyramid. Pearl _had_ wanted to surprise Pink Diamond-the Diamond had to have as little time to prepare for an attack as possible. Therefore, if Rose had gone herself, Rose would have approached Pink Diamond, occupying her while the rest of the Commanders jumped Pink Diamond.

* * *

That was eight hours ago. Now, the Commanders had mobilized, and were ready to infiltrate the base Pink Diamond would be landing at.

To be honest, while Pearl favored killing Pink Diamond without too much fuss, she didn't mind entertaining the idea of capturing her. The Tyrant Diamond did not have to die for Rose's sake, although Pearl would happily shatter her at a moment's notice.

The informant marched up to Pearl, addressing her directly. Arriving at the end of tunnel, the informant concealed them all in her cargo, and escorted them out of the Cave. On the informant's signal, all of them would leave their hiding places, and approach Pink Diamond.

Whether Pink Diamond died, sustained crippling wounds, or fell into their hands, it would surely be a crushing, humiliating defeat for the Diamonds.


	19. -Time Unknown, Place Unknown

"I don't think I've been this excited for the upcoming chapters since I started writing this thing."-famous last words before I dropped from the face of the earth.

I'm so so sorry I haven't been able to keep to a schedule. I swear I'll get this story done, though. I'll never leave readers hanging. Assuming I have any left, that is. (ノ*°▽°*)

A sifaka is a kind of lemur, btw.

* * *

When the sun shone bright and strong upon her face, often she had nightmares: one specific one. She floated in the blinding white-chasm between arousal and slumber, unable to awaken or to descend further into sleep. With a great amount of effort, she rolled off onto the floor.

Stevonnie-as-she tried in vain to banish the grogginess from her mind, stretching out upon her willow-bed. A series of creaking steps upon the steps outside announced the arrival of her mother and father, Chief of the Sifakas.

Stevonnie-as-she peered around to gaze at the strange, glimmer beings behind her parents. Not a word spoke they; Stevonnie-as-she followed the odd group to the village square.

Stevonnie listened to the tone and mood of the conversation; the father and mother's light, wavering tones, bravely battling the brash tones of the glimmering ones. In that moment, Stevonnie gazed down at the hands that were not theirs, but hers-the grey-padded fingers wavered before their vision. Details swam about, buzzing and becoming indistinct when Stevonnie-as-she leaned in close.

 _Am I dreaming?_ If Stevonnie had fallen into a lucid dream, they had no semblance of control over it. Stevonnie could only accompany her as the conversation ended. Her mother and father led her away from the town square, toward the village temple.

The temple was a long, low affair, dotted with smiling statues, constructed from weathered grey-black-striped-white stone. The jungle hovered around the temple, filling out the periphery of Stevonnie's vision.

Stevonnie-as-she entered the temple, swooping her eyes over the stone statues of Sifakas, not truly interested in them. She swept her eyes over the massive pink chest, a transparent key stuck in its hole. She gazed for a bit at a magnificent mural of the traitor, Rose, destroying Pink Diamond.

A blink of the eyes later, that mural's place had been taken by a series of Sifaka-creatures offering wrapped goods to a massive creature, roughly quadrupedal with unproportional limbs and a mouth full of razor teeth.

…At the back stood a cement mixer and spreader; farther beyond, at the back of the wall, stood a line of cement statues of Sifakas, broken only by an open coffin in the middle of the line. Stevonnie was not allowed long to look at the statues; for she thought them creepy, and averted her gaze. The statues unsettled Stevonnie too; they had seen enough movies to develop an intuition for these sorts of events.

The mother and father disappeared all at once. The Gems popped up, right in front of her. She yelled, and fought as the Gems (for though their forms were blurry, Stevonnie believed them to be Gems) flung her into the waiting coffin.

The Gems poured cement into the coffin ( _Wasn't the coffin vertical?! Thought Stevonnie_ ). As the first viscous drops hit Stevonnie, they realized she was no longer there-just Stevonnie!

It was far too late for panic or plans. Cement poured down onto Stevonnie's face, stinging their eyes and gluing them shut;

Trickling past their ears and making them shudder;

Dribbling past their lips and pooling into their mouth;

The coffin shut; then removed.

The Gems lovingly placed the cement Stevonnie right next to the other statues.

"Is this really the sort of night fears that plague humans?" White Diamond curled her lip in disgust, shaking the coffin violently to end the mirage she had projected from Stevonnie's mind. "No doubt, your mind has seized upon your current physical position as a point to fix upon. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Matriarch turned to Stevonnie, enclosed within their prison of black-striped-white, form-fitting so close only their eyes could move. Stevonnie wanted to yell, to scream, to challenge White Diamond to a fair fight. But their mouth could only output saliva; White Diamond's violent shaking had made them queasy.

 _With this white crap so close…if I barf, it's got nowhere to go…_ A new wave of queasiness overcame Stevonnie, and they braced themselves.

Directly after their capture, Stevonnie had summoned their rose bubble to blast the coffin away; it stayed put. Stevonnie flexed their muscles, and pressed their knees, elbows, and back against the coffin; it stayed put. Without any room for leverage, Stevonnie could not bring their power to bear against their prison. Stevonnie summoned their sword; the sword manifested outside the coffin.

 _Come on, Lion! Go get me some help! Garnet, Lars, someone!_


	20. Reminiscence- Prelude to Adventure

Accept this new chapter as apology for my long absence!

シ_ _)シ

If you're confused over what is happening in this chapter, please wait! Everything will be revealed soon.

* * *

The remnants of Pink Diamond's fight force watched Blue Zircon power walk from their gilded cage, looking like a million bucks. Onyx NX765 watched her go. The Logistics Manager of the Base where Pink Diamond met her fateful end fluttered down next to the Onyx. "I suppose we all must now be tried for treason. Seeing as how we aided and abetted the enemy, is all."

Onyx shooed the Aquamarine away, irritated. The Aquamarine giggled and rejoined her fellow comrades, gleefully giggling to the closest Gem, "Did you just talk to that Blue Zircon? You _did_? Well I have news for you…"

For a little while, the caged Gems discussed Blue Zircon and her efforts to acquit Rose. A certain topic can be milked of conversation for only so long, though; discussion eventually wound down. Serious arguments softened into gossip, and jokes.

The jokes got bawdier and the laughs more bellowing; the mirth grew so much, no one noticed the arrival of the Kingsguard, the bodyguards under the Diamonds' direct control.

"I see everyone here is having a grand old time!" Rhedicax barked out at the cheerful Gems. As the cheerful company set eyes upon Rhedicax, the mood swerved in a complete 180.

Onyx's eyes soared out from the respectable size of quail eggs to the size of duck eggs. What on Earth did Rhedicax think she was doing? The most dangerous thing a bunch of conspirators masquerading as upright public servants can do is _meet in public!_ And Rhedicax hadn't even lugged around her whole entourage as a pretense. Rhedicax had some real nerve-White Diamond had **expressly** forbid each them from fraternizing baselessly! (After all, the trio did not want to invite suspicion upon themselves).

As Rhedicax strode up, Onyx noted the taller Gem looked rattled. _Maybe White Diamond has found out…?_

Jumping forward, Onyx seized Rhedicax's lapels, and whispered, "Now didn't we agree that each of us should effectively ignore the other until the right time? Don't you think the guards will be suspicious, and report this-"

Rhedicax seized the moment, lifting the smaller Gem off the ground and dangling her behind her back. Swirling around, Rhedicax shouted in a thunderous voice: "All of you! Follow me!"

Onyx inserted her chisel-like foot right into the crack of Rhedicax's butt. "Pay attention when I'm speaking to you!"

Ignoring the jabs, Rhedicax addressed the caged Gems. "The time has arrived for us to carry out our plans!" said the Kingsguard, sprinting from the Cage.

"But such a bold move like this, the other Diamonds surely will notice-" Onyx began.

Rhedicax cut her off, whispering to her, "Stevonnie has been captured. This is our best and last chance. If things go correctly, there won't be any Diamonds to notice our efforts! Come on! Time is slipping away!"

"Fill me in before we do something stupid!" hissed Onyx, squirming from Rhedicax's grasp.

Rhedicax explained the situation as briefly and concisely as possible.

Meanwhile, the Caged Gems charged out into the hall, full of traitor Kingsguards and like-minded members of the military.

"Spread out!" bellowed Onyx. "We must find the Zircon before it's too late!"


	21. -Time Unknown, Place Known

You me: what does this chapter have to do with anything?

...well...foreshadowing. I just realized that I haven't set up my ending well enough. or at all. I swear Stevonnie's nightmares have a point! Just bear with me.

(シ. .)シ

Sometimes, White Diamond would tease Stevonnie. "So this is what becomes of the Great Traitor? Stuck in a little ol' coffin with nowhere to go? Mayyybe you should try breaking it!" She would laugh, and Stevonnie would try yet again to break their prison apart. The previous ten times they had tried to so failed, and this time was no different. _This coffin has to be made of something special._ Stevonnie reasoned.

Indeed it was-the coffin was made of White Diamond herself! Not too long after White Diamond had captured Stevonnie, she instructed her Kingsguard to transport Stevonnie down below to the hydraulics near her feet.

…A diminutive Gem assisted with the soldiers' efforts. Small and mouse-like, neither White Diamond nor anyone else, save one, noticed the Gem scurrying about.

Once the soldiers had left the vicinity, White Diamond herself transferred Stevonnie down below, into the lab underneath her feet. The Oxides living there accepted the coffin, and set into contact with White Diamond's feet. That way, White Diamond could freely move the coffin wherever in her building she desired.

White Diamond congratulated her trapped Gems, and thought carefully about her next move. _Somehow, I have to trick Stevonnie into giving up what they know._ White Diamond scratched the top of the coffin with a long finger, irritating the human-Gem hybrid with the resulting noise. The Matriarch had contemplated interrogating Stevonnie; however, she did not want to clue Stevonnie in to what she wanted from them. _I need to know everything they about the murder of Pink Diamond. Depending on what they know…I might just have to kill them myself._

A squeaky sound met Stevonnie's ears, like rubber-on-rubber. Stevonnie gritted their teeth and knocked their shoulders against their dark prison. Fortunately, White Diamond stopped soon afterwards.

It made no difference whether Stevonnie opened their eyes or closed them; not a speck of light was trapped within the coffin with them. Stevonnie shut their eyes anyway, watching as green-and-purple plumes blossomed underneath their eyelids. Eventually, they drifted off into sleep…and more lucid dreams.

 **Power! Nothing else in the whole world can provide so much, take so much, be as valuable!**

Stevonnie hurtled through a tunnel of Bismuth crystals and pink grass. Tiny diamond-pink bats shot upwards, slashing through Stevonnie's skin and clothes, biting and ripping at they with tiny pink-as-a-diamond teeth. Despite this, they could not feel a thing; all they could hear were the voices echoing up the tunnel, defeaning in their intensity.

 _Behold the Dragonslayer! This baby can shatter rock like it's nobody's Bismuth! Just check out that sharp edge, that width and breadth!_

 **The spectre of power lies before you-grasp it! Just like we have! See the lights above our heads, Rose!**

A blade of pink grass shot up Stevonnie's nose. They flailed their limbs in the air, clawing the cold, narrow plant leaf from their delicate nose canal.

 _Rose! Look at this baby. It's a real beauty, a gamechanger. Homeworld knows how to hit us where it counts, but we can do everything they can do, and better. Here it is: the weapon that would've won the war._

Stevonnie's descent abruptly stopped. They slapped into the ground so hard, they did not feel the pain of impact. _I can't even feel my own face._ Stevonnie thought, poking at the medley of scratches, deep and shallow, adorning their limbs and face. Stevonnie used this moment of brief respite to study their hand carefully. The veins underneath the skin wriggled like snakes. The fingernails buzzed around in place, their edges splitting in red, blue and green shades.

 _It's only a dream. It'll be over sooner or later,_ Stevonnie reminded themselves. They were surprisingly calm, for such a bad dream.

 _I suppose it's because I know this isn't real._ Stevonnie sighed, and tried not to wallow in their fate too much, or to worry too much. Even in their nightmares, Stevonnie tried to piece together some kind of escape plan. _I can't let myself panic._

Stevonnie waved their limbs about and creating a dirt angel, cherishing their fleeting freedom of movement. _At least I can move in these lucid dreams..._ Inside their coffin, Stevonnie could not move more than a few centimetres in any direction without meeting the cold coffin walls. Their limbs were locked in place.

Stevonnie had not the time to let their mind wander any more. A sea of pink grass shot up around Stevonnie, resplendent with the two trees, shirt, bubble, chest, and features Stevonnie knew so well.

Stevonnie sunk down into the pink grass, drawing in a deep breath of "air" they knew should not be there. A dense fog trickled from everywhere, obscuring everything. Stevonnie stood up, preparing themselves for the next apparition.

Two massive monsters loomed in the distance, howling eerily. The creatures resembled horses, with disproportionately large heads, and gaping cavernous mouths. Stevonnie could see these features despite the fog; almost as if the sights seen by their two eyes were different.

A shard of Bismuth echoed within those screams. As the howling got closer, Stevonnie called out, "Bismuth! Is that you?"

The figures shuddered, and after a moment morphed into two massive Bismuths, gazing down at Stevonnie.

The world shivered under their weight, and crumbled.

Stevonnie opened their eyes to see only darkness, and reflexively tried to stretch. The coffin hit their funny bone; Stevonnie let out a muffled curse.

How much time had passed by this point?

Stevonnie could use only her sleep-wake cycles as a gauge of the time. They had fallen asleep at least five times; in the dark of the coffin, Stevonnie often floated off into mindlessness. Not quite sleep, but not quite awakening either.

Stevonnie stretched their limbs within the coffin, and rocked back and forth in vain.

Outside, White Pearl nodded, summoning a light document. She quickly wrote down Stevonnie's curses upon the note, for White Diamond's later use.


	22. Turnabout Alliance-Prologue

_If it seems like a part was cut out at the beginning, it's this: Blue Zircon went to Pink Diamond's soldiers to get some info, then we skipped, and now she's done getting the info. I originally planned to show what Blue Zircon and the soldiers talked about, but I think people are getting tired of that._

 _wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww_

 _Earlier…_

Gem abuzz with all that she had learned that day, Blue Zircon took her leave of the remnants of Pink Diamond's fighting force, oblivious of the panic later to visit the Cage. She set out for her office to arrange her thoughts and craft a battle plan.

Blue Zircon entered the Law Offices, greeting the receptionist Gem. After a bit of small talk, Blue Zircon continued inside and sought out the location of a certain Zircon, Béhierite. Blue Zircon was ready to bare her soul in front of Béhierite and hopefully secure her cooperation. _I'll be surprised if that Blue Diamond devotee refuses me,_ Blue Zircon mused as she entered the elder Gem's office. Béhierite's secretary had her sit down in the lobby, to await Béhierite's call.

Blue Zircon took a seat, clenching her hands until her fingers made imprints upon each other. _I will not back down. I've come this far. I'll see it through!_

At the time of Blue Zircon's entry, Béhierite had been conferring over a secure communications line with a colleague. Blue Zircon could see the floating light screen through the shades, obscuring the Béhierite's face. After a while, the screen vanished. Béhierite removed her monocle, and scribbled down a few notes, then replaced the blue oval.

Soon the door opened, and Béhierite surveyed Blue Zircon, wrist fashionably hovering underneath her chin. "You have a different air about you, my good Gem."

Blue Zircon decided to be blunt, and hook Béhierite on the first try. "I have a favour to ask of you. It concerns the case that Blue Diamond obliged me to take. I am ready to discuss the matter at length with you, once you assure me of your cooperation."

"You're being awfully serious," sighed Béhierite, stroking her chin with her hand. "Ah, well, you know me. I can't resist. Come on in."

Blue Zircon entered Béhierite's office. The office was 15 feet by 17 feet, over half of the space taken up by a large seat and table. Neatly stacked documents, screens, and row upon row of file cabinets dominated the rest of the space. Directly behind Béhierite, facing the door, lay a massive painting of Blue Diamond and her associated territories. Béhierite ushered Blue Zircon into a seat, and eased herself into the seat behind her desk. "Now tell me all about what My Diamond has you do. It has to do with the Rebellion, doesn't it?"

"I am investigating the murder of Pink Diamond, to find the truth behind the incident." Blue Zircon said shortly.

Whatever Béhierite had expected, it wasn't quite that. Her face blanked instantly. "May I see your case files?" she asked. Wordlessly, Blue Zircon handed them over, and began to narrate the tale of how she came to investigate the murder of Pink Diamond.

* * *

 _Self-preservation._ When Blue Zircon had reformed after being poofed by Yellow Zircon, the words "self-preservation" occurred to her. _I have gone too far. Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, White Diamond…I could, no,_ will _be retaliated against._

Not only had she committed a grave insult against the Diamonds, she had threatened their power. Pink Diamond was well-loved throughout Homeworld, and an accusation of murder or even the threat of being accused would undermine that Diamond's power. If the accusation would be substantiated, that killer Diamond would become a pariah, and might even be shattered as revenge by the other two Diamonds. Assuming that Pink Diamond's killer had been acting alone.

 _Why have I not been retaliated against?_ Not even Blue Diamond could keep her activities in the dark for this long. No overt strikes had been taken against Zircon, in stark contrast with the **action** Yellow Diamond had taken against her in the aftermath of the Trial… _It's highly uncharacteristic of Yellow Diamond to not address a threat. The Diamonds can't afford to have a rumour going around that they shattered their own… why has no one threatened me? Kept me quiet? Forced me to comply?_ Shattered _me?_

Blue Zircon sifted through the many possibilities; one jumped out at her. A possibility minimizing the danger Blue Zircon posed while heightening the rewards the Diamonds would receive. For just as Blue Pearl had said so long ago, Blue Zircon was expendable. On the slim possibility one of the Diamond's own defending Zircons decided to go against orders, an expendable one could easily be silenced without a thought.

A slim blue hand, raised, halted Blue Zircon for a moment. "Is it possible this Blue Pearl may only have been talking?"

"But everything else makes sense, doesn't it?" Blue Zircon yelled, windmilling her arms. "The Diamonds can't have a crazy Zircon going around undermining their authority! Pink Diamond is beloved by the army, which is now in Yellow and White Diamond's control! If I were to spread the rumour that either of them slew their beloved late leader…!"

"The Diamond Killer would have a rebellion on her hands _that_ quick!" Béhierite finished with a snap of her fingers.

"So it would be in the Diamonds' best interest to shut me up! But they haven't, because I haven't gone around running my mouth." Blue Zircon said, settling her fingers on Béhierite's desk. They began to quiver only a little.

Béhierite countered, "But you _might_." She pointed a finger at Blue Zircon. "As you are telling me, an outsider, right now."

The quiver in her fingers became a little more noticeable.

"Which is why I think, at the end of this Trial, I will be arrested as an agent of the Rebellion." Blue Zircon said calmly. Drawing in a breath, Blue Zircon slammed her hands into the chair arm rests for emphasis. Now was the time to sell Béhierite on her theory once and for all. She needed help, and by the Diamonds above, she'd get it!

"Think about it. It's perfect! I am defending Rose Quartz right now, _slinking_ around, snapping up evidence that the current leaders of Homeworld **killed** one of their own. I'm a prime candidate for 'Rebellion Spy'. They're _hoping_ that I **won't** become alarmed, and that I'll keep my knowledge to myself, but at the end _snap_ **me** up as a Rebellion spy."

Béhierite nodded, swirling her hands over one another, as if her thoughts flowed over them. "Thereby discrediting anything you might have to say."

"This is what I believe Yellow and White Diamond will do." Blue Zircon chopped her palms down on the table, then slid them away. Jabbing a finger into the desk, Blue Zircon continued. "So then, what will Blue Diamond do? It all depends on whether her desire to know the truth overwhelms her desire to stay in power." Blue Zircon reclined in her chair, crossing her arms. "I do not believe Blue Diamond murdered Pink Diamond. She has an alibi that I have tested at length."

Béhierite laced her fingers and tapped her pointer fingers against her lips. "Good. I would not want my Diamond to be falsely accused."

"Of course not." Blue Zircon said. _Thank the Diamonds…_

Béhierite grinned and tapped her nose conspiratorially. "Of course, there _is_ the possibility that you have become paranoid."

Blue Zircon let out an exaggerated sigh, her mouth leaking air like a trusty balloon being deflated, looking forward to the many cheerful parties to come.

"Those two will not stand idly by as I accuse them of murdering their beloved co-ruler! It's _unthinkable_ that Yellow or White Diamond would let some Zircon uproot them from power!"

Béhierite interjected with a flourish, "Then my dear Blue Zircon, you are in quite the pickle indeed. Mmm-hmm. Let us say that Rose Quartz actually did slay the might Pink Diamond. You _shall_ be arrested both for insubordination and treason. On the other hand, if you **do** discover that one of the other Diamonds has killed Pink Diamond, before you can expose the killer, they will exert their Matriarchicial power, and cover that up. And you still are arrested for insubordination and treason. What if it's more complicated than that? Doesn't matter. Still treason. Any which way you go, my dear, you're going to be arrested. I don't see you winning, in this scenario."

Blue Zircon slammed down her fist on the table. "I plan to strip the lies from this case, discover the truth, and most importantly save my own hide. Before the next trial, I will go to Blue Diamond and accuse the killer of the deed. There won't be any time for the killer to arrest me, or to influence the other Diamonds to cover anything up! My case will be so sound Blue Diamond will have no choice to acknowledge it. She won't be able to just turn a blind eye to it!"

Béhierite exhaled. "Well. That's certainly true. Let me first say, I thank you for telling me all this. And of course, I shall help you."

Blue Zircon's mouth popped open, her mind shouting but her mouth swallowing, _NO TAKE-BACKS!_

Béhierite smiled an un-smile, peeling back her lips like one would rip the peel from an orange. "You need my help. But it won't be pro bono."

Blue Zircon nodded rapidly. "Sure, sure, sure! I'll get it done, whatever you want!" After a beat, she hastily added, "Within reason, of course."

Béhierite smirked. "Absolutely. Wouldn't want you to be my personal secretary for the end of time, now would we…"

Blue Zircon could not piece a response together, so she chose to let that statement go uncontested. " _You_ can help me get that unannounced audience with Blue Diamond! If it's you, there's no way she'll turn you down."

"What we need to do now is to plan our next movements very, very carefully…"

With Béhierite's cooperation assured, Blue Zircon explained to her what she had in mind in great detail.


	23. Turnabout Alliance-Confrontation

Béhierite did not restrict herself to one case at a time. A brilliant mind demanded more of a challenge. In addition to her courtly duties, she juggled a few cases at all times. Presently, Béhierite toiled over just one case, and two investigations-her Parasite friend's appeal to the Diamonds, an investigation on a serial killer on the nearby planet Omega 3, and lastly, investigation of a worrying rumour. If one believed this rumour, White Diamond owned a secret laboratory, hidden within her physical body.

Béhierite herself had swept White Diamond's body herself with a sonar spitter under the pretence of a routine safety check, and had found nothing of the kind. Béhierite wanted to do a more thorough check; however, her Diamond had found out about it, and had forbidden her from any more investigation. Béhierite had to sigh. In her opinion, Blue Diamond put too much trust in her fellow Diamonds.

Béhierite tapped her Gem in irritation. Now was the time to plan, not to reminisce. Blue Diamond had forbidden Béhierite to run around White Diamond's building blasting the walls with sonar; however, other investigations continued. One of these investigations would make an excellent cover for Blue Zircon's illicit activities.

An investigator under Yellow's command (a dour Daisy Yellow Xenotime, a relative to the Zircon family, but far rarer) and Béhierite had an upcoming "meeting" with General Rogueite, of White Diamond's command. Officially, the debriefing concerned a rogue Sun Incinerator that had alarmingly been lost by an Emerald. This General would give them the details of the incident. During this meeting, Béhierite needed to gauge whether the General posed a threat to Blue Diamond. And, technically, to Yellow Diamond, as well.

The meeting itself did not matter to Blue Zircon's plans, but Béhierite had been given the freedom to set the "meeting" wherever she desired.

"Set it here!" Blue Zircon had said, directing Béhierite to a small meeting room, nestled snugly within the beating heart of Yellow Diamond's headquarters. Conveniently, the room lay only twenty feet away from where Blue Zircon would use Béhierite's credentials to access a high-level computer lab. From what Béhierite understood, Blue Zircon wished to view current surveillance tapes of the Diamonds' quarters themselves.

As long as the truth did not involve her beloved Blue Diamond, Béhierite would be happy to play along with anything the junior Zircon proposed.

After drawing up the details of her plan, Blue Zircon readjusted her monocle, re-setting its sides into the curve of her brow and nose. "And the fact that you are committing treason doesn't bother you at all? You're letting a Zircon with a much lower security clearance access ultra-top-secret information!" asked Blue Zircon, astounded.

"No it doesn't. _But_ if it did, I would have turned you in to the proper authorities by now," said Béhierite with a chuckle. Her chuckle deepened as Blue Zircon blanched and hastily changed the topic.

Béhierite whipped up the necessary paperwork and filed it in a matter of hours. First-a form to transfer Blue Zircon into her department, thus giving Blue Zircon an excuse to follow Béhierite into high-security areas. This form was the most important, so Béhierite filed it immediately. _No form can ever be processed as quickly as we need it; I'll have to pay the Administrator a visit._

She submitted the change of room form second, setting the meeting to Room UX-2117, on the second floor. Blue Zircon hovered over her shoulder, watching as Béhierite scribbled out details over the two forms, talking all the while.

Then, she penned a quick holomail to Daisy-Yellow Xenotime, detailing the change of plans. The reply came within minutes; the rare Gem could care less. Béhierite whispered conspiratorially to her junior Gem, "I think she likes it. After all, this building is right next to Yellow Diamond's court! It's her home turf. It strokes her ego."

Blue Zircon shifted uneasily behind the giggling Béhierite. Béhierite craned her head around to scrutinize the junior Gem's expression. _Of course, she can't be too happy about going so near to Yellow Diamond…_

The meeting was still two Earth days away; Béhierite bid Blue Zircon farewell.

The day of the meeting could not occur quickly enough for Blue Zircon; but soon, it was time. Four hours before Béhierite's meeting, she bestowed upon Blue Zircon a newly-minted pin, proof of her office's authority. Béhierite peeled an organic film off of the back of the pin, moistened it with a dip of water, and pressed the back against Blue Zircon's cravat.

Blue Zircon crooked her neck to inspect the sparkling pin bound to her cravat. A large blue dot lay at the centre of several concentric circles, each proudly bearing a number of dots of varying size.

The circular motif brought forth an image of Blue Diamond, extending her hand upon the planets she ruled.

With a few words, the two Gems were ready to leave.

A diminutive, mouse-like Gem, a Feldspar, skittered along the sky walk, hopping from level to level, always remaining at least two stories above the targets. If she slipped and made a noise as her body smashed into a lower sky walk, if her claws made screechy noises on the concrete, if she otherwise was not silent, the targets would not hear.

The targets proceeded past the main thoroughfare, and took a detour into the maze of pastel blue-screened offices. The soaring roof of the building dived down low, forcing Feldspar to descend and trail the targets.

The office maze held a comfortable kind of silence. If one's focus slipped from their work to the ambience outside them, the soft beeps and murmurs of holo-screens would predominate, blending with soft scratching of hands over screens or desks, and the occasional scuffle of feet over carpet.

Feldspar hated this. She winced every time she passed by an open-screen office, and the occupant's eyes would flash up to her, back down, then back up again. She tried to ignore the staring. She could not "blend in". Her linear style of dress had been "in" over 5000 years ago. The audacity of modern Gem styles! Whatever happened to the blocky monotone colours, and the steel-straight lines? Gems these days…

And directly because of that absent-mindedness, Feldspar collided with her targets. Her nose bounced off the solid leg of the older Gem, who apologized with a flourish. The younger Gem adjusted her monocle. Feldspar acted on instinct. She gave a bow (hopefully bowing was still in fashion) and apologized herself. Feldspar did not stop to chat; she walked on, turning as soon as she possibly could.

Feldspar cursed, and made a wide circuit around the two to ensure they could not hear or see her following them again. True, she risked losing them, but…

 _I am a professional! I should not be slipping up like this! I have an important role, I can't mess this up!_

Feldspar skittered to a lane beside the two targets, keeping pace with them, sometimes dashing ahead and waiting for them to pass by her. By their position, the two had not moved much since their meeting with Feldspar; but they were moving now.

Feldspar lowered herself onto four legs, only a little guilty. (In her opinion, this two-legged thing was all just a fad.) Her commander had said: "I know it's natural for us, but you _cannot_ go on four legs when newer Gems around!" again and again, but Feldspar was unable to resist the urge. She needed soothing. _It's been so long since I had to do…well anything. I've grown soft._

As a direct result, her back left foot caught on a pastel-blue screen, sliding free without Feldspar noticing. The screen inched forward in response, scraping against the rough carpet.

"Can I help you?" asked the Gem within, breaking the comfortable silence. After a moment, she turned around, to see the source of the disturbance. Feldspar had left by then; the office Gem sighed and returned to her work.

As the other Gem's voice had sounded out, Feldspar froze. Why was that Gem speaking so suddenly, seconds after she had passed? Feldspar took cover quickly, not wanting to be seen. After a moment, the mousy Gem continued on…

…until she realized she could no longer hear her targets' steps. Feldspar tilted her head around, but she could hear nothing.

A surge of panic rushed through the minute Gem. Feldspar had been a tracker in the army; a good one, too. But she had not practiced her craft in a while. Perhaps, if she had not been so rusty, she would not have panicked as she did.

Feldspar _had_ to regain sight of her targets. She couldn't lose them! She sped around the corner, rocketing towards where she had remembered them last. Feldspar skidded to a stop at the spot, for the carpet had been scuffed up unnaturally.

Feldspar sniffed the carpet, lips and teeth kissing the soft blue carpet as something hard smashed into the back of her head.

The unexpected blow stunned Feldspar, and she curled up, gravity knocking her onto her back. She saw as her assailant, one of the targets, bashed her again in the face with a solid office chair.

With an adamantean effort, Feldspar regained consciousness and rolled her body away. There were perks to being a diminutive Gem, after all! Feldspar fell still, sneaking her hand into a pouch on her belt. Clenching her hand around her cold chisel, hoping her assailants would approach her and try to flip her over. _I can't quite see, but if I can just pull this off, I should get one of them!_

Indeed, Feldspar felt something hook into her back, and begin to raise her up. Feldspar sunk her left knee into the carpet, swinging her hips counter-clockwise. Flipping over, Feldspar slashed the chisel at the blue thing in front of her, where her targets should be. A curse rang out, and the Gem in front of her stumbled back. Another, similarly blue Gem took her place.

This Gem reached her hands back-in them she held the silhouette of a chair. Feldspar rocked forward, trying to get to her feet. The Gem did not give her the chance to do so, battering Feldspar with the chair in a flurry of ferocity until Feldspar nearly blacked out.


End file.
